ELF vs SUVs

SUVs Destroyed by Environmental Radicals in Calif.
Fri August 22, 2003 07:22 PM ET

By Judith Crosson
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A pre-dawn fire apparently aimed at sport utility vehicles, vilified as gas guzzlers and polluters, engulfed an auto dealership on Friday in California, the state known for its love affair with the car.

The Earth Liberation Front, a radical underground group that targets land development and other issues it deems harmful to the environment, said on its Web site that spray painted messages at the dealership indicate the group was responsible.

No injuries were reported in the blaze in West Covina, a suburb east of Los Angeles.

SUVs were spray painted with the words "terrorist" and "gross polluter" at two other California dealerships.

In addition to the fire, Hummers were defaced with anti-pollution graffiti and scrawled on several of the vehicles were the letters ELF.

The move prompted a national SUV owners' group to condemn the incident and criticize celebrities like California gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington, a founder of the Detroit Project, which has challenged automakers to produce fuel-efficient vehicles.

"While we believe these groups do not condone such activity, those who have generated the greatest amount of media coverage are creating an atmosphere where it is open season on SUV owners and their vehicles. It must stop," SUV Owners of America President Jason Vines said in a statement.

The Earth Liberation Front Web site also featured a newspaper article reporting the FBI suspected it of setting on fire earlier this month an apartment complex under construction near San Diego. Appended to the article, which placed preliminary damage estimates at $20 million, was an update: "(Note: Damage from this fire is now estimated at $50 million.)"

A study released this week by a Washington, D.C.-based transportation reform group showed that Southern California faces a "public health crisis" in the climbing number of residents with respiratory illnesses linked to air pollution.

The study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project found that nearly 2 million tons, or 57 percent of all air pollutants in Los Angeles, come from tailpipe emissions.

Although improved technology has made vehicles 90 percent cleaner in the past 30 years, the number of miles Americans drive has tripled, undermining those gains, the study found.

In 2001, Southern California cities were among the country's top 20 for highest smog levels, according to the California Public Interest Research Group's Web site. (Additional Reporting by Gina Keating)