SvN links to and discusses a study regarding the environmental cost of different cars. The original article discusses the energy cost per mile to build different cars and concludes, amongst other things, that the Hummer H3 takes less of an environmental toll than a Honda Civic Hybrid.

And while many consumers and environmentalists have targeted sport-utility vehicles because of their lower fuel economy and/or perceived inefficiency as a means of transportation, the energy cost per mile shows at least some of that disdain is misplaced.

For example, while the industry average of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2005 was $2.28 cents per mile, the Hummer H3 (among most SUVs) was only $1.949 cents per mile. That figure is also lower than all currently offered hybrids and Honda Civics at $2.42 per mile.

Which makes sense. Pickup trucks — which are all the more H3’s really are — have been around for 1,000,000 years, are very well understood, and are relatively inexpensive to maintain. Hybrids, on the other hand, are newer, less well understood, and more costly to replace parts for.

Of course there are many other things to consider — safety, which pickups lack relative to modern passenger cars, future savings from developing technologies used in hybrids, or other harder to objectively measure costs of dependence on fossil fuels. Still, it’s interesting to see environmental costs put in to perspective in this particular way.

SvN’s conclusion rings particularly true.

There’s nothing wrong with buying a hybrid to save on fuel costs, but maybe it’s time to put down the “I’m doing it for the environment” flag and put up the “I’m doing it to save money on gas” one. And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course.

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