We hear the word green a lot these days. All of a sudden people are so worried about the planet and are trying to live a "green" life style. Ever since Al Gore started speaking about "global warming", a lot of companies are jumping onto the green movement bandwagon. Is it because they are genuinely interested in saving the planet or do they see this as another opportunity to make those green dollar bills? Whatever the motives might be – either ethical or greed – we have to admit that we are destroying the Earth and depleting it of its natural resources. Our life styles are greatly affecting this planet and we have to do something about it.

Automobile companies add on about an extra mile or two per gallon with every new model while they lie to our face that they are the greenest company out there. Hybrid vehicles are a joke. There are cars out there that get almost as much miles per gallon and emit less pollution to the air for less than what you will pay for a hybrid.

But why will people buy them? Because the companies come out with these great commercials that claim that they are "green". They have the technology to come out with an all electric vehicle that will not need any gas and will therefore be a true zero emission vehicle. The United States's automotive giant General Motors came out with the first electric vehicle called EV1 in the 1990s. It was an all electric vehicle that had a range form 100 to 120 miles per charge. General Motors decided that it was bad for business and shut the program down and destroyed the cars.

Toyota, the Japanese giant, in response to the competition also developed their own electric vehicle called the Rav4 EV. Like General Motors they discontinued production of the Rav4 Evs, but unlike General Motors, who only leased their electric vehicles and were able to take them back so they can be destroyed, Toyota sold them. You can still see some Rav4 Evs out there today.

These companies claimed that it was too expensive to manufacture the vehicles and that the batteries were too weak. The reality was that since these cars were all electric there was no need for any oil and filters. All the owner had to do was take it in every five thousand miles for a tire rotation. Oil changes with the parts and labor is a multi-million dollar industry and that is what these companies were referring to when they said it was "bad for business".

Car companies have the ability and the means to go above and beyond what is being offered to us at the current time. When will ethics surpass greed?

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