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While advertisements compel us to believe an SUV is worth it, the simple truth is that it's not. Imagine this: a rugged man packs up his suburban family and sets off on a rarely traveled road, bravely treading through the mud, navigating the dense forest, and eventually coming out atop a beautiful vista at sunset. This image, made popular by many SUV ads is appealing. Who doesn't want to be the person who brings the wonders of the outdoors to those he or she loves? SUVs are not just status symbols-according to commercials, they'll turn their owner into a modern-day hero, an unafraid explorer of untrodden roads and the person who can show their passengers a lost mythic beauty.

While the SUV companies market their low-MPG, high-impact vehicles as being the best transportation into nature, this claim is tragically false. Globally, an SUV's inefficient gas consumption makes it entirely unsustainable. Not only are SUV owners directly supporting the big oil producers who successfully lobby against the preservation of natural wonders and pristine ecosystems, but the emissions from such a large piece of machinery contribute to global warming and Smog. An SUV is no friend of the global environment.

Locally, SUVs do just as much harm to the great outdoors. Imagine driving through that muddied woods you've seen so many times on the television. Now think about the erosion that would be the result due to such a heavyweight vehicle driving off road. Soon, even your high clearance vehicle would have trouble traversing the deeply rutted ground. If the marks and trails of covered wagons are still visible remnants of the Oregon Trail, consider how much long-term damage an SUV would do if taken out into the wilds.

The irony that SUVs are marketed as a way to experience nature's rugged glory is that SUVs actively destroy the ecosystems they purport to revere. This irony has escaped many, although I'm sure they'll be reminded of it as they drive off into the unexplored wilderness, only to run out of gas and realize their SUV wasn't really worth it at all.

Learn more about this author, Jessica Sullivan.
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