Combating Hummers

In response to the militant invasion of streets by GM Hummer H2s, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is holding a Protest Day Against Hummers on November 15.

CCAN is a non-profit organization that promotes clean energy usage in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. One of the main problems the group has with Hummers is their fuel efficiency, or lack thereof. Dawn Ratcliffe, who is in charge of the protest, asked, "When car manufacturers have the capability to make fuel efficient vehicles, why is GM promoting the Hummer?" Motor Trend estimates the H2 at 10/14 city/highway mpg.

In addition to being extremely fuel inefficient, CCAN also claims that the Hummer is unsafe. Ratcliffe recounts that a CCAN member was biking with a child on a road when a Hummer approached, and because the vehicle was so large, the man was forced to leave the road to get out of the way.

The goal of the protest is not, however, to get Hummers off the road but rather to get Hummer ads off the air. Founder Mike Tidwell compares advertising of Hummers to that of cigarettes. "GM's relentless promotion of these disastrous vehicles is no less harmful to children…than putting cigarette machines in all of our schools," he wrote in an email to the CCAN mailing list.

Others at CCAN agree that the ads are inappropriate for broadcast. "Something this unsafe should not be promoted…on the media," Ratcliffe added. "[Hummer] commercials are so negative," she explains; the ads are a bad influence on children because they feature reckless driving and cheating.

The protest has been organized as an educational event aimed at consumers. Planned speakers include a doctor from Johns Hopkins University and members of local faith communities as well as Mike Tidwell representing CCAN. A press conference precedes the protest at Greenbelt Capitol Hummer (6500 Capitol Drive, Greenbelt, MD) from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on November 14. The actual protest is at Anderson Hummer (10139 York Road, Cockeysville, MD) from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Other organizations such as the National Sierra Club have taken up the call and are hosting similar protests on the same day. Organizations in New Jersey, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California, Illinois and New York among other states will be having events similar to the ones here.

For those unable to be present at the protest, CCAN is distributing safety complaint forms to be sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The forms are intended for manufacturing defects, but CCAN wants to impress upon the NHTSA that Hummers are generally unsafe.

More information is available at the CCAN website or from Dawn Ratcliffe at (301) 920 – 1644.