Reader: Sweet picture of that Scout in Readers' Rides (Oct. '07). Too bad the passenger is too stupid to wear a seatbelt! The first two questions that are asked when an off-roader gets hurt or killed are, "Was he drunk?" and, "Was he wearing a seatbelt?" I know of a guy that rolled his junk getting it off the trailer-throttle stuck, end of story. If I'm moving my junk anywhere, the seatbelt goes on.
Bob Greene
via 4wheeloffroad.com
Editor: A very good point, as seatbelt use is the single most important thing to do in an off-road vehicle. But look closely at the photo and you'll see the passenger does have the belt on; it's just a lap belt down low.
Reader: I was considering changing to a different magazine recently when Rick Pw finalized my decision. His 4xForward (Sept. '07) was the deciding factor. It is a shame that in these days an editor to an off-road recreational magazine feels the need to give an elementary lesson on personal responsibility to grown adults, but it was beautiful. Every time I make it out to the trails, I see the remains of some dumbass who left their crap for me to clean up. I am tired of the campers and wheelers who ruin it for all of us.
I am currently a student in the Arizona State University Environmental Biology program. Yes, I am green. I hope to become an environmental planner. I also am an avid 4x4 enthusiast. My friends and family get sick of how important four-wheeling is to me. So here I am, like Rick, an environmentalist and a wheeler, because I too would rather wheel through the trees in the mountains than through a wasteland of other's garbage. I will try to keep our trails open by wheeling responsibly and advocating for our rights. So to Rick and everyone else at the magazine, thank you! I will continue to enjoy your articles for years to come.
Daniel Bieber
Tempe, AZ
Editor: Thanks. Now let's go clean up a trail and show the idiots that we really care about our world!
Reader: Mr. Rubin was correct in using the word "idiotic" and "Carbon Foot Print" in the same sentence (In Box, Sept. '07). I do, however, take offense at him including Rick Pw in that sentence.
Having read your article it is clear to me that he did not make the connection between paying for carbon offsets and hypocrisy. It seems to me that we all need to be conservationists like you and less about looking for novel ways to "buy" our way out of looking after our planet.
In my experience with you, Rick, I have never gotten the impression that you are either an eco-nut or about trashing the planet. It seems to me that you have a balanced approach to enjoying our planet and taking care of it.
In the end it's about the small things we do. For instance, treating cigarette butts as litter and not landscaping. Turning off lights, maintaining our vehicles for maximum efficiency, continuing to look for ways to be more efficient in all things we do, reducing our trash output.... I could go on and on.
Hypocrisy is when we kid ourselves into thinking we can pay someone to plant a tree so that we can simply go on without changing our ways. Keep in mind that paper companies plant trees as a crop to be harvested to make paper-maybe I'll just buy more paper and claim it as a Carbon Offset.
In the end I'm a conservationist like you and attempt to do some small part to improve things around me. All people should keep in mind that my '06 Ford SD gets better mileage and produces fewer "bad" gases than most cars built in the '70s. This doesn't mean we should stop working to be better, it just means that we are improving and shouldn't be bullied into thinking we're doomed unless we stop all things that eco-nuts claim are "killing" the planet.
Mr. Rubin needs to refrain from name calling in his correspondence and stay focused on making his point.
Donnie Roebuck
via 4wheeloffroad.com
Editor: Gee, thanks. Maybe that will be the last of that.