I’ve called AAA a few times and never waited hours. They’re usually pretty fast around here. Not sure about Boston.
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Nobody “needs” an SUV. They didn’t even exist a generation ago. If you need extra passenger space, minivans have on average better mpg. Added plus, their front bumpers are car height not truck height, and they do less damage and kill less people than SUVs.
But they’re not “cool.”
Car manufacturers make SUVs and trucks because they make more money off them. And because people want them. So it’s the manufacturers AND consumers, jointly. Who are responsible.
Four years ago I bought a Honda Fit, which gets 45 mpg on the highway, and only cost me 15K. But that’s not where the money is, sadly, and they’ve been discontinued.
We don’t have much time to get serious about climate, y’all. Saving up for electric next.
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My small suv gets far better mileage than the sedan I drove for years. Meanwhile I don’t eat beef (except a few times a year at a bbq or something) which is probably a lot more impactful climate-wise than a few mpg. We all make our choices and I do my best to make choices that are better for the earth. I will probably go electric for my next car (years away) but it wasn’t possible this time around for several reasons.
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Actually, they did exist as a niche category for those who did off-road driving or heavy towing, but wanted something with more enclosed interior than a pickup (which were more commonly small cab instead of crew cab back then). But back then, people did not choose them as daily commuter vehicles like now.
Of course, many SUVs these days do not have much off-road or towing capability, since they are never used for such, so they are just less efficient versions of vans, station wagons, or hatchbacks (but more efficient than those with better off-road or towing capability).
That’s great to cut back on both gas consumption and meat consumption. Plenty of other ways to save energy too and reduce non-sustainable consumption overall, too.
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@Juno16 Add taking a shower to that. Some people may not drive an SUV but claim taking an-hour long shower is absolutely necessary. What if we do a few things just because we like it. Is that so bad? People get so self-righteous and lecture-y. Being an alarmist may be a way for a power control just like during McCarthy era. Didn’t they put on a communist label on everything they didn’t like and people couldn’t even make a squeak. If worst come to worst, we can always reactivate a few nuclear power plants. Zero carbon emission. These so called activism is not so much for the environment as self indulgence.
So now I have to buy a floor pump that I never needed until deflators came along? One more thing I could do without and send to the landfill. How ecological is that?
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I’m not in favor of what they did at all as I feel it does more harm than good. The ends don’t justify the means, etc.
But no, the “worst” with what humans are doing to the planet won’t get solved by a few nuclear plants down the road. One can’t solve starvation from drought or too much rain by changing an electricity source after it’s gone too far. Adding AC in more places won’t solve it either.
Even knowing that, we’re not yet equipped as a country to go all electric, so people need to do what they can in whatever way they can in the meantime while we make a gradual shift and pray (or cross fingers) that it will be quick enough.
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I like to advocate “green” thought process. (Have a new thread about Trash Reduction if anybody is interest.). But I try not to be judgmental. At a Boston house with SUV driver, there may be another spouse who takes the train to work - that seems no worse than driving two smaller cars.
In retirement, we have chosen to stay in a house that is too big for just two people. It’s a bit wasteful (though I will say our procrastination on renovation has unintentionally reduced landfill junk.). Would not appreciate vandalism in protest.
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That would be us. Mr. drives a Tesla SUV. I take the bus or carpool with him. Not saying this makes us environment saints, but I don’t see the need to trade our X for 2 model 3s or whatever.
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We had a Tahoe from 2001-2013. We used it a lot and I don’t apologize for it. We were building a cabin and we had to drive half a mile up a very steep gravel road. 4WD was a necessity. We were carrying around three kids, a dog, and building supplies. We pulled a big trailer, too.
Now that the kids are grown and the cabin is completed (well, kind of, it will never be totally finished), we drive a 4WD Ford Escape. We pull a snowmobile trailer with it, which is probably at the edge of its capacity.
We have only one car since we both work at home. We keep a detailed schedule on Cozi to make sure we don’t have a car conflict. Only once in several years have we had to rent a car when we both HAD to have a car for a few days. It does feel good saving on repairs and the cost of a second car.
And I LOVE seeing those car ads in the winter when people are driving way off road in beautiful snow. I figure DH and I are part of the 0.5% of the population that actually does that. 
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We have a group like that in my area (another big metro). It’s not surprising at all. They do a great job of avoiding detection and stepping just over the line of legality around Earth Day in order to get attention. I’ve really come to dread Earth Day for this reason, and it’s a shame. I’m an evil SUV driver, too, but it’s a hybrid, so maybe it’s only half-evil? Not sure.
Lots of people already have such a thing to inflate other things like bicycle tires, soccer balls, basketballs, etc… No additional stuff needed.
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We have something, some kind of pump, because we have or have had bicycles, soccer balls and basketballs. Not everone has the need and I would be very upset to find a deflated tire. People might have to get to work, get kids to school, get to a medical appointment, etc. Just not good to be doing this kind of thing to make your point.
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Not saying what they did was good (it was probably bad for their cause as well as being bad in general).
But if you already have a pump, and your local roadside assistance takes hours to get to you, using the pump may be a faster way to remedy the situation.
Good luck pumping 4 SUV tires with a bike pump. 
It is a good workout though. We have a pump that plugs into an outlet (or car battery) and stops automatically at the pre-set pressure.
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For about 16 years we had a Pontiac Montana minivan. It happened to come with an air hose (an extra perk with the self-leveling shocks). It was actually pretty handy for bikes. And the hose could reach all 4 tires (and the camper tires too). It’s the kind of thing that would never be on our must-have list, but we got a lot of use out of it.
I wish they chose Southie, or Charlestown, but I’m sure they realized things wouldn’t end well in those sections of town.
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We own an SUV and a small hybrid. I try to walk my errands as much as possible (I live where that is feasible) and H mostly drives the hybrid (which is actually my car). But we live in an area with a LOT of snow and our garage is on an alley behind the house (typical here). We could not take the hybrid out some days because of the snow in the alley which is plowed but still gets deep ruts. Not sure a minivan would make it. Subaru and Volvo SUV’s are popular in my neighborhood for a reason. In addition, H does a lot of do-it-yourself projects here and at D’s house so he needs something he can haul wood and other building materials in.
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We own 2 Ford Escapes having bought the second because we really like the first. We also made sure we got the full towing package on the second as it can tow up to 3600lbs - which meant we could replace our truck that got half the gas mileage. H tows his boat and we occasionally tow other things on a trailer we have.
That said, our next vehicle will be electric if we can get one when we need it - replacing the 2014 Ford Escape. H uses that one to go off the road on some of his job sites, so it will either have to be able to do that or he’ll get “my” 2019 that can handle it and I’ll drive the electric. Time will tell.
I have posted before about my car, a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV. But I’m not sure I have mentioned how much stuff that thing can haul! We are re-doing our basement and I just got 80 feet of 8 foot long baseboards to put down and got it all in the Bolt with the hatch shut. It did come up between the two front seats, but wasn’t a problem. Also got a 4x4 8 foot pine post for another project on the same trip and it fit too.
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