The Toyota Prius

"Consider the eco-conscious automobile par excellence, the Toyota Prius. As it turns out, manufacturing the Prius's battery is extraordinarily carbon-intensive. Paying off this carbon debt through fuel savings will take 46,000 miles, according to Wired. Only after 100,000 miles would the Prius catch up with carbon savings offered by a ten-year-old Toyota Tercel. And the Prius would never catch up with a 1994 Geo Metro XFi."

You need to drive a Prius 46,000 miles to offset the amount of energy it took to manufacture its battery? That's really deflating to read. 

For more about "green" living and the new television station Life on Planet Green read this interesting article in The Atlantic Monthly.

...Maybe we could live a greener life if we didn't sit in front of televisions (and computers) as much. A truly "green" television station would be no signal or maybe "snow."

-johnson!

Update:

Reader response for original source:

I'm disappointed that you lent so much credence to Reihan in the Prius-bashing, who lends so much credence to that Wired article without at least noting that soon the Toyota Prius will be switching to a lithium battery, which will change that calculus completely.

It's true that the Prius does have a bit of a green footprint issue vs. a used car, but that's kind of a silly argument to make considering the fact that the used car is clearly a different product than a new car, and a different market. It's a bit unfair in an apples to apples way to pick the most fuel-efficient used-car you can find and put it up against a new car, where it has a built-in advantage immediately in its carbon footprint because it's used! Why not a new Prius vs. a used suburban? I wonder who would win that comparison?

Also, it's silly to assume a used TERCEL or GEO METRO is going to be a plausible product for most people since the reliability of those cars and whatever longevity might be left on a used one is dubious at best. You might as well urge "green living" by using your coffee ground three or four times before you throw them out. Sure it's an awful beverage or has no actual flavor left by the fourth time, but hey, it's greener so that's the choice a green must make! These arguments trying to bring in crazy scenarios about using old cars that Reihan even acknowledges are death traps all just seem like silly contrarianism.