September 11: A tragic and sad event that changed our world. Why did it happen? Were the terrorists jealous of our free press and right to bear arms? Were they acting out of blind rage against a perceived enemy who is truly innocent?

I believe it was an act of desperation -- that there is a group of people who believes it is better to die for a cause than to live in squallor while others live in opulence. We are the country that represents that opulence. The greatest symbols of our opulence are our massive personal Sport Utility Vehicles.

But has 9/11 changed our habits? Only by encouraging some Republican Senators to try to ram through a provision in Railroad Retirement Bill that would allow oil exploration in protected areas of Alaska. After all, we can more easily claim that the terrorists were purely evil and bomb the shit out of them, than to reflect on the root causes of the terror. And each bomb that kills an innocent civilian in Afghanistan is another piece of fodder for the next 9/11. If we reduced our dependence on foreign oil, we wouldn't have to go to such lengths to protect our oil fix.

Read on:

AlterNet -- The SUV-Terrorism Connection the Environmental Protection Agency released its annual fuel economy statistics last week. Sadly, the reports show that the fuel economy of 2001 vehicles has plunged to its lowest level since 1980. The reason: America's ongoing appetite for gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.