Drive a SUV, drown a Bengali?

You will remember my debate with the campus over SUVs? This letter from Carl Pope in Reason is another perfect illustration of how loopy the anti-SUV brigade can be.

One of the most certain consequences of global warming is a rise in sea levels. That rise means that the already horrific loss of lives and property which results from typhoons coming off the Bay of Bengal will increase dramatically as storm surges reach further north into the low-lying villages and towns. The Bangladeshis have never agreed to have their lives and property put at greater risk so that Americans can satisfy their post-industrial off-road fantasies. They receive no compensation for their loss. There is no contract, explicit or implicit, that gives American drivers the right to raise sea levels.

Pope is Executive Director of the Sierra Club. He's also got a very tenuous grip on reality. (Courtesy Karen DeCoster's blog, who writes "Americans do not want to drive Ford Explorers with 4-cylinder, 90-horsepower chug-a-lugs that get 34 miles per gallon. The market has spoken on that issue." Advantage: deCoster!)