Here in the United States, we rely on cars to get around. Some of us, including me, drives a large SUV that only averages about 13 miles per gallon. While I enjoy driving an Escalade, I do have some concerns. I sometimes have a guilty feeling when I find myself driving alone (without any passengers and cargo). Since the Escalade is a nice car, I do get positive attention from friends. I also noticed that a large number of Lafayette ski team members drives SUVs, including a few Suburbans.

Since the US (especially outside the Northeast) do not have great public transportation system like Europe and East Asia, we have no choice but to drive. Some of us must drive SUVs due to carrying a lot of cargo or even due to having large families. Whether their SUV is for personal use or business, households prefer to keep the number of cars to a minimum to minimize costs of owning cars. Therefore, this leads people to drive their SUV alone. I do know someone who sold their SUV and switched to a sedan due to costs; I personally pay $80 to fill up my Escalade.

Petroleum is running out at a fast pace, unfortunately. While the gas mileage of cars have improved over the past few decades, the great news is that SUVs are being included too. I have seen an advertisement for a Hybrid Escalade, running on roughly 20MPG.