In Loving Memory of the Hummer

GM’s consumer production of the Hummer, a variant on the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (aka HMMWV or “Humvee”) developed by AM General appears to be coming to an end. The revolting Hummer H1, insidious Hummer H2 and despicable Hummer H3 lines will no longer be produced by General Motors, who has hired Citigroup to review selling the Hummer brand.

GM lists the fuel economy for its popular H1 and H2 as “N/A,” likely the primary factor in declining consumer demand for the beasts.

The Humvee was originally developed for military application, and went into consumer production in 1992 at the request of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would go on to become the governor of California. Governor Schwarzenegger has since repented, “greening” his hummers and then selling some of them.

Governor Schwarzenegger has also become a champion of innovative policies to combat climate change and support the development of clean, renewable energies.

Let us view this as a reminder that there is hope for converting even the worst of climate offenders, and remain dedicated to doing just that.

7 Responses to “In Loving Memory of the Hummer”


  1. 1 Robert Aug 4th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

    Um, the HUMVEE is not produced by General Motors. It is produced by AM General.

    Also, when the Hummer is finally retired will all of our fuel problems retire along with it. I ask because Hummer accounts. for roughly .0024 of total vehicle sales in the US.

    Just though I would ask

  2. 2 Michael Aug 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm

    despicable Hummer H3

    I don’t know…my H-3 gets 20 MPG…I live in Hurricane Central (Miami) and I’m glad I have the H-3…

    I’m sure the next time South Florida has another hurricane I’ll be towing lots of little cars at $50 a pop… !

  3. 3 Charles Aug 6th, 2008 at 10:37 am

    de gustibus non est disputandum

  4. 4 Kit Stolz Aug 6th, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    I know that Gov. Schwarzenneger has talked about “greening” his Hummers, but I’m not sure that it’s actually happened…can you provide evidence for this assertion? Might not be so easy to do.

  5. 5 Alexander M. Tinker Aug 6th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Robert-
    Correct, AM General developed the HMMWV/Humvee, GM produces and markets the Hummer H1, H2 and H3.

    Michael-
    That’s great your H3 gets 20mpg (still pretty bad), I didn’t reference the H3 mileage, as you can see above.

    Kit Stolz-
    Here’s evidence that he sold them:
    http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2006/09/22/5/index.html
    As for evidence that he greened them, I doubt its out there either.

    All of you-
    In case you didn’t get it, the post was primarily intended to be humorous.

  6. 6 Nick Magel Aug 6th, 2008 at 9:06 pm

    This post is humorous, but there is a serious undertones to the death of the Hummer. One is that the hummer was billed as a car that embodied freedom for Americans to indulge in oil gluttony. put on the same symbolic pedestal was the corvette and mustang as raw auto power and might.

    Hummer while only about “.0024″ of total vehicle sales was more of a poster child of an industries mindset.

    Now, long from GM, Ford, Toyota, and so on, used the shield of “customer demand” to continue to push gas guzzlers the industry is treading water. Detroit is drastically shifting their product line to fuel efficient vehicles. they have done enough damage and they are now realizing it. GM lost $18 billion last quarter, they are selling of bands (ironically Hummer is likely to be sold to TATA motors of India which recently produced a $2500, 59-mpg “eco-car”)GM is also pulling health care packages from retirees while Ford is scrambling to completely shift 4 plants previously manufacturing SUV and pick-ups to manufacture small low mpg models.

    the industry is scrabbling the hummer is only the tip of the iceberg (pardon the global warming pun)

  7. 7 Alice Aug 12th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Hummers run on diesel. So you could convert them to run on vegetable oil. I knew someone who had one. He bought it used and drove it almost exclusively for off-roading in the Colorado mountains.

    I looked into getting a diesel Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf, but apparently they aren’t selling them for a couple years. Might have something to do with switching over to the reformulated fuel. I think US restrictions on diesel are now stricter than Europe.

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About Alex


Alex Tinker is the Director of Civic Engagement for Focus the Nation, an organization that provides a platform for young people to engage their elected leaders on climate and energy issues. Before coming to Focus the Nation as a national organizer in 2007, Alex was a field manager for Working America/AFL-CIO where he worked to pass the Healthy Kids Plan and Employee Free Choice Act. His career as an activist dates back to canvassing against anti-gay Ballot Measure Nine in 1992 and he has been involved in peace and social justice work with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) his whole life. Most recently, Alex coordinated visits with 50 Congressional offices as a part of Climate Ride 2008. Alex holds a B.S. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Oregon.

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