STARS ARE TWO-FACED ON SUVS

By RICHARD JOHNSON with PAULA FROELICH and CHRIS WILSON
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MANY of the Hollywood celebrities behind the new campaign against gas-guzzling SUVs are hypocrites who consume huge quantities of fossil fuels in their stretch limos, Gulfstream jets and oversized Beverly Hills mansions.

TV producer Norman ("All in the Family") Lear, who is spearheading the conservation crusade along with columnist Arianna Huffington, built a garage for 21 cars five years ago which stands 45 feet tall.

"Lear's neighbors . . . contend that the structure, complete with a tennis court atop, was built in violation of city height restrictions," the Los Angeles Times reports. "Lear's parking garage has ruined the aesthetics of the wooded canyon."

Gwyneth Paltrow is appearing in ads for Lear's Enviromental Media Association (EMA) accusing SUV owners of supporting terrorism. But some of Paltrow's neighbors find her to be an odd choice for an anti-SUV poster girl.

"She drives a Mercedes-Benz SUV," says a tipster who lives down the block from Paltrow's West Village digs. "Not only does she drive an SUV, she selfishly parks it on the sidewalk in our neighborhood." Paltrow's publicist did not return calls.

The commercials have outraged drivers from all walks of life. They juxtapose footage of Americans filling up their SUVs with clips of Middle Eastern terrorists in face masks raising AK-47s.

Chevy Chase and his wife are avid supporters of the EMA, but that doesn't stop them from cruising around Westchester in the luxury of a SUV.

"They keep it in the back and it's very rarely used," Chase's rep, Alan Eichorn, tells PAGE SIX's Ian Spiegelman. "They only use it when they have to attach the horse trailer or when they're carrying a lot of kids."

Eichorn explains that the Chases are "extremely enviromentally conscious," that they have not one but two of Toyota's Prius model hybrid cars, and that they even use solar panels to heat their swimming pool.

"They hate having the SUV and they're going to get rid of it as soon as the carmakers come out with a hybrid version."

Barbra Streisand, meanwhile, never seems to tire of telling other people how to live, but the world would be a pretty smog-filled place if the rest of us lived like her. As The Post reported recently, Streisand and her hubby James Brolin have SUVs. Streisand's rep would not comment on what vehicles the couple is currently driving, but said that they plan to buy a Prius.

STARS ARE TWO-FACED ON SUVS

By RICHARD JOHNSON with PAULA FROELICH and CHRIS WILSON
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MANY of the Hollywood celebrities behind the new campaign against gas-guzzling SUVs are hypocrites who consume huge quantities of fossil fuels in their stretch limos, Gulfstream jets and oversized Beverly Hills mansions.

TV producer Norman ("All in the Family") Lear, who is spearheading the conservation crusade along with columnist Arianna Huffington, built a garage for 21 cars five years ago which stands 45 feet tall.

"Lear's neighbors . . . contend that the structure, complete with a tennis court atop, was built in violation of city height restrictions," the Los Angeles Times reports. "Lear's parking garage has ruined the aesthetics of the wooded canyon."

Gwyneth Paltrow is appearing in ads for Lear's Enviromental Media Association (EMA) accusing SUV owners of supporting terrorism. But some of Paltrow's neighbors find her to be an odd choice for an anti-SUV poster girl.

"She drives a Mercedes-Benz SUV," says a tipster who lives down the block from Paltrow's West Village digs. "Not only does she drive an SUV, she selfishly parks it on the sidewalk in our neighborhood." Paltrow's publicist did not return calls.

The commercials have outraged drivers from all walks of life. They juxtapose footage of Americans filling up their SUVs with clips of Middle Eastern terrorists in face masks raising AK-47s.

Chevy Chase and his wife are avid supporters of the EMA, but that doesn't stop them from cruising around Westchester in the luxury of a SUV.

"They keep it in the back and it's very rarely used," Chase's rep, Alan Eichorn, tells PAGE SIX's Ian Spiegelman. "They only use it when they have to attach the horse trailer or when they're carrying a lot of kids."

Eichorn explains that the Chases are "extremely enviromentally conscious," that they have not one but two of Toyota's Prius model hybrid cars, and that they even use solar panels to heat their swimming pool.

"They hate having the SUV and they're going to get rid of it as soon as the carmakers come out with a hybrid version."

Barbra Streisand, meanwhile, never seems to tire of telling other people how to live, but the world would be a pretty smog-filled place if the rest of us lived like her. As The Post reported recently, Streisand and her hubby James Brolin have SUVs. Streisand's rep would not comment on what vehicles the couple is currently driving, but said that they plan to buy a Prius.

Well, the anti-SUV campaign is working out great, I would love to be the Prius dealer in Beverly Hills, all the stars will be rushing down to my showroom to buy Prius. It would be funny to see Bill Clinton and Barbara Steisand in a Prius, or Al Gore and Arianna Huffington in a little Honda. Dream on. Looks like these jokers have taken on something more than they can handle, in the past the silent majority just quietly watch from the sideline, but I am seeing great deal of report of resentment in the main press.

Did anyone catch Cameron Diaz on Leno a few weeks ago?

She was talking about her Prius and saying how she loves driving it, she feels so "patriotic".

Jay laughs and says incredulously, "Oh, so you feel patriotic driving a JAPANESE car?"

Knowing how much of a car guy Jay is, you just KNOW he had some really good things to say about THAT, but didn't.

I hate it when stars get all political and support causes.

It's like, you make MOVIES. Big deal, nobody cares WHAT you think.

Mike:

Exactly, and I reiterate that it is a person's own agenda that makes for right and wrong on this issue.

For example, one person may look at a Toyota Prius and think, "How cool; this person is consuming the minimal amount of fuel as a car owner." I look at the Toyota Prius owner and think, "there's another Japanese car on our roads."

It all depends on where your priorities reside. I can belong to Sierra Club and drive a Hummer - there is a weak correlation that people keep driving [that correlation being that SUV owners don't care about the environment].

I don't know why this kinda stuff gets my goat. I read it and get all pissed off and want to literally run over any Hollywood celeb, Frisco resident, or national newscaster I can find.

Geez. I think I'll just go to Hooter's, have a beer, and think happy thoughts. That's easy to do there.

Tex,
Save me a seat at the bar will ya? Let's try to remember that you don't have to be smart to be a movie star or a newscaster and there's no IQ test to reside in SF.

Dennis (equally pissed off---just further north)

Tex,
What do you have against Frisco residents??

The fact that anyone is buying the drivel about gas and terrorism is hysterical! What about Nascar??? Are the redknecks of America supporting terrorism as well; cause those babies ain't running on water!
Let's look at our wonderful Petroleum products: MAKEUP is one of the largest.
So by the numbnuts of America's logic; every woman that wears lipstick is supporting terrorism!
This campaign just needs to be vanquished!!

k_tower: "The fact that anyone is buying the drivel about gas and terrorism is hysterical! What about Nascar??? Are the redknecks of America supporting terrorism as well;"

If you believe Bush's ridiculous commercials saying that drug users support terrorism, then certainly you must also believe that oil use also supports terrorism. Islamic militants are not funded by drug cartels, they are funded by oil exporting states. I'm sorry, there's just no way around it.

So yes, it's time to re-think your use of oil. Does that mean you should stop wearing lipstick? Slow down, tiger, and put on your thinking cap for a second. I would suggest that if you have any concern for these issues that the more logical approach would be to look at "first order effects" first.

Where do we use the most oil in this country? Civil transportation. Which sector of civil transportation uses the most oil? Automobiles. If you want to get the most oil conservation bang for the buck, start there.

Jason

SJ "I look at the Toyota Prius owner and think, "there's another Japanese car on our roads."

When I look at a Toyota Prius, I think: "How sad that the only way to minimize one's oil consumption in the US today is to send jobs to Japan. It's too bad we are giving Japan a long term edge while we allow our big oil and auto lobbiests to set their own short-sighted fuel economy standards."

-Jason

Jason:

I agree wholeheartedly. My biggest consumer wish is to see Ford and GM introduce cars, trucks, and SUVs that offer greater efficiencies. Design, parts sourcing, and manufacturing should be firmly planted in America.

Ford is supposed to offer a Hybrid Escape SUV in the Summer of '04 and GM is working on at least 5 near-term models that use alternative fuel sources.

As you stated, the profit motivation is what blinds some of the manufacturers at this stage of the game.

I refuse to buy a Japanese nameplate [very expensive consumer product and too valuable of an industry to justify my proliferation of a foreign entity], but I also want to be a productive member of society, so I'm hoping that GM and Ford step up to the plate before it's too late.

SJ: "Ford is supposed to offer a Hybrid Escape SUV in the Summer of '04 and GM is working on at least 5 near-term models that use alternative fuel sources. "

I'm looking forward to seeing the new GM and Ford lineups and I hope they will go a long way to narrowing the gap and reversing the trend.

One thing I'd like to add is that even though I recognize that all things being equal, buying American is best, I think that a lot of the stigma surrounding Japanese cars needs to be reconsidered.

15 years ago, when the US/Japan auto trade dispute was a hot issue, I vowed to never buy Japanese. Times have changed.

The US economy and US car companies are on much better footing. Over the same time our biggest foreign trade deficit has shifted from Japan to China. Consequently, China's economy is growing rapidly while Japan's has crumbled.

Furthermore, in my view, China is, at best, a "strategic competitor", while Japan is our biggest counterweight in the region.

I can't help but feel a little reassured that helping our Japanese friends has some indirect strategic benefit to American interests in the long run.

Jason

"15 years ago, when the US/Japan auto trade dispute was a hot issue, I vowed to never buy Japanese. Times have changed."

Nothing has changed, people simply shifted their hate targets, you just merely being influenced by the wind of the day and follow the crowd. We Americans always need an enemy or someone to look down on, whether it is German, Italian, Irish, English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabs, Jews, Mexicans and whomever fits the bill for the moment, or we feel threatened economically by someone. You are not an independent confident person, you are easily influenced, unfortunately you don‘t even know it. This month it happened to be anti-SUV, few months ago it was the WTO, or genetic engineered foods, or whatever coming next.

Huffington and Lear have 9000SF mansion, do you know what a 9000SF house uses every MONTH? Minimum $2,000 of gas and electric, a decent size garden uses $2,000 of water a month. How pathetic you are merely a follower to these people. Hitler could not have done what he did without people like you.

I wonder what kind of TV or LCD or DVD do you own? Do you know what are in the computer or cell phone you are using now? Do you know all the DELL computers are made in Taiwan? Wal-Mart buys $6 Billion a year from China? You can accept the reality and look to the future, or you can fight the windmill.

Stop the hate and all the negative energy, it does you no good and it does our great country no good.

MAC: "you are easily influenced, unfortunately you don‘t even know it"

Without arguing any of my stated reasons (and I provided several substantive reasons why the US/Japan auto landscape has changed), you labeled me as frivolous for changing my tune on buying Japanese over a 15 year timespan?

"do you know what a 9000SF house uses every MONTH? Minimum $2,000 of gas and electric"

Natural gas is much more abundant in the US so the link to terrorism isn't as plain as it is for oil -- and burning it doesn't pollute the environment. Electricity is mostly generated from domestic nuclear power which is also a relatively clean source of energy. Water, too, is a domestic resource, and is pretty environmentally friendly, last I checked.

Personally, I don't care whether Arianna showers with Evian water or sleeps on a bed of fresh-picked rose petals every night. I am more interested in the merits of the issue itself rather than whatever dirt you can find on the person presenting the issue.

Also, I do buy a lot of consumer stuff from China. But not automobiles. Back to the topic of automobiles, my point was that if you are not satisfied with American products, and have concerns about American interests in the Asia/Pacific region, then buying Japanese is preferrable to European.

"Stop the hate and all the negative energy, it does you no good and it does our great country no good."

"Hate and negative energy?" I'm for love and positive energy. Doing good for our country? I'm all for it! That's why I support energy policies that are good for America.

Jason

This thread is like a train wreck. Don't wanna look, but you have to.

Most important of all: Klaus reads quality material. One cannot overestimate the quality reading Page Six in the New York Post provides. Where else can you find out who is dating whom? Which celeb left another celeb's hotel room in the wee hours of the morning? Try and figure out the blind items?

Seriously guys, I'm always for a healthy debate, but I'm starting to get sleepy.

Anyone able to figure out the blind item last week about the "charming" actress with a VD?

I guess I had better defend my reading habits! I did a search on Norman Lear and SUV, and this is what I found.

Actually, I couldn't care less what the Hollywood crowd is up to. However, I am concerned about the shallow minds that do care - And what actions they may take.

Klaus, I wasn't making fun of you! Page Six is the first thing I read every day, then I move the the WSJ. People may make fun of the Post (intellectual snobs!), but it offers the best entertainment for 25 cents I've ever seen. No peep show comments, either, MAC or Z.

It's just . . . so . . . angry over here. We need some levity! It's just that years of studying Latin & ancient Greek have made me averse to any kind of seriousness.

Hey "Hummer, Heh, Heh," I have a little exercise for you. Click this link and see if you can find the little energy-wasting ghost in this picture. Make sure your volume is up extra high in case there are any clues.

you. "http://home.attbi.com/~n9ivo/whatswrong.swf and see if you can find the little energy-wasting ghost in this picture. Make sure your volume is up extra high in case there are any clues."

I would but I saw that like 2 years ago.

Someone told me last week that Michael P. Farris "Huff-huff Huffington" used to call himself "FOOK", and they pointed me to his old webpage. Be sure to scroll to the bottom.

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare...8665/fook.html

-Jason

[This message was edited by "Hummer", heh, heh on February 25, 2003 at 09:05 PM.]

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