VANCOUVER, B.C. — Several sport utility vehicles have been spray-painted with slogans such as "Pollution machine" and "Status symbol," owners complain.
Four expensive SUVs were hit late Wednesday night in the Kitsilano neighborhood east of the University of British Columbia.
One owner, Jack Senior, branded the vandals "brainless idiots."
"They haven’t done their homework," Senior said. "This burns less gas than a lot of cars."
John Chavner of Volvo in North Vancouver added that newer SUVs have much better emission control technology and often the same engines as passenger cars.
"I went to an environmental seminar where I was told that running a gasoline-powered lawn mower for half an hour was equivalent to driving our vehicle 1,000 miles in terms of pollutants released into the atmosphere," Chavner said.
The vandalism was defended by Kalle Lasn, editor-in-chief of Adbusters Magazine in Vancouver, a publication critical of excessive consumption. He conceded that spray painting is unfair to SUV owners but added, "There are bigger fish to fry here. We are talking about climate change on planet Earth."
Senior did find one bright spot: "At least they chose Christmas colors, red and green."
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