I bought a brand new 2000 VW Golf because used VW diesels are virtually impossible to come by. I think my choice was a good one environmentally speaking, so I take offense to your remark. Buying a new vehicle is not a bad idea if you intend on keeping the car for a good couple hundred thousand miles. The idea of consumerism run rampant is "my leased vehicle is 2 years old and outdated -- time to trade in for a new one..."

James makes a perfectly good point regarding your car polluting more. Even if it gets good mileage, the exhaust is still 'dirtier' than that of a newer car -- meaning higher NOx, SOx, particulate emissions, etc. Being an '86, your car probably has a carburetor and definitely pollutes more when the car is cold than a newer fuel-injected car. But aside from that, people want some things in their vehicle that your '86 doesn't have -- like airbags, side-impact beams, crumple zones, maybe even working air conditioning...

As a born-again Christian, I am against most 'consumerism' and other wordly self-indulgences as well, but have backed off considerably on the issue of environmentalism. I firmly believe that we will not get the opportunity to really trash this planet. Jesus will return in the not-too-distant future, taking His people up, banishing the evil ones, and wiping out the earth -- ozone layer and all...

I, myself, used to be very environmental and used to bike back and forth to work much more often than I do now. I used to be more of an eco-freak, condemning people in my own mind who drove 15mpg vehicles, and thinking I was a better person than they were. But the holier-than-thou attitude holds no weight with God. When we die we will not be judged by the vehicle we drove and what pollution we created, but rather by our faith in Christ and by how we treated other people.

(since this string was off-topic, I hope no one minds a little preaching...)

Dean