Dear all, My name is Gordon Hewitt and I am a fourth year student at Trinity College Dublin, studying Economics and Sociology. As part of my degree I am required to complete a dissertation, and through my research I have decided to conduct a study into whether society's attitudes towards automobility and car usage are changing in the light of global warming and climate change. Of particular interest to me are the new technologies emerging that have been created to reduce green house emissions, especially hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius. As part of my methodology, I plan to conduct a number of interviews with hybrid car users. I am currently searching for potential interviewees, and was wondering if anyone living in Ireland would be willing to be interviewed about their experiences driving a hybrid. The interview would take around an hour, and would have an informal structure. If anyone is willing to speak to me, or find out more about what I am doing, please do not hesitate to email me at hewittg@.... Any help would be very much appreciated. I am from the London, but study in Ireland. I am planning to be back in the UK in two weeks for a few days so if anyone from London is willing to speak to me, then that would be great. Kind regards, Gordon Hewitt.

B"H Gordon, if you want to inteview me via phone, you can. I live in New York USA. Or you can come to visit. I have a 2001 Prius...Bill H. email: gojoe283@...

Hi Bill, As much as I would love to come to New York, I am not sure the Trinity College Sociology department would feel too good funding an undergrad to travel to NYC! I am considering conducting some telephone interviews, and thankyou for you kind offer of talking to me. I will contact you soon to arrange a time that suits you, clearly we have a timezone issue to factor in. I look forward to speaking to you soon. Kind regards, Gordon Hewitt. "Bill H."

Dear Bill, Below are some quesions I am interested in. I have also posted them on priuschat.com and greenhybrid.com. I would be very interested in hearing your opinions. They should not take too long, but if you could elaborate on your points it would be very interesting. Any help would be great. The questions are as follows: What were your reasons for purchasing a hybrid car over a more traditional form of automobile? What are the main benefits you have got from driving a hybrid? What do you think about Global Warming and Climate Change, and do you see links between society's use of the car and environmental degradation? Do you live an environmentally friendly lifestyle overall by say recycling, driving as little as possible, insulationg your house, purchasing organic food, limit the amount of flights taken to a minimum etc.? Are you a member of any environmental organisation (e.g. Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth)? What do you see happening in the auto industry in the future? Thanks a lot for taking an interest in my work, Gordon Hewitt. "Bill H."

B"H Gordon, ok here are my answers: 1. I bought a hybrid (Prius) because I drove one in our fleet and was very impressed. My previous car (1972 Dodge Dart Swinger) had a rough six cylinder engine and only got 9 mpg (US gallons) in the city where I do 90% of my driving. The Prius is smooth and quiet. Also, it bothers me personally to see vehicles sitting in traffic, idling for maybe 15 minutes during a 30 minute trip downtown (remember NYC is very crowded during rush hour!) wasting fuel that comes from countries that have no concern for either conservation or even world peace, but will kill innocent people for "political" or "religious" reasons. The above bothered me so much,I would often turn my car off during prolonged stops. It wouldn't re-start so easily when it was hot. THe Prius does all this for me, and does it flawlessly. 2. THe main benefit is, of course, 3 to 4 time better gas mileage. From 9 to 35 miles per gallon is a substantial increase. I got a car that my family loves and handles better than my 1972 Dodge did. Unfortunately I lost the sleek hardtop ("fixed-head coupe") styling of my Dart in the process. The Prius has had virtually no mechanical problems in 80,000 miles of driving BE"H and it gets regular maintenace from my Toyota dealer. 3. Personally I don't care if the earth warms up; New York is nasty cold during the winter and I can't stand cold weather any more. Moving isn't an option for me since I have family here. But seriously, being a religious person, I can't say that global warming or pollution is causing the environmental problems on the planet; my beliefs say that good deeds, thoughts and words between men would do far more to make Earth a healthy place to live. 3. I do believe that we should do everything we can to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels; but again that is more due to the fact that those countries with these reserves care little for doing their share of maintaining world peace; rather the opposite. Our leaders and consumers are foolish to buy big cars and SUVs, in this day and age. They are dinosaurs in a world where smaller, more efficient modes of transportation will ultimately be needed. 4. Yes, I do everthing I can to be environmentally friendly. I recycle (required by NYC law; cops go through the garbage and issue expensive tickets for finding recyclables in the regular trash. I have stopped driving to work as of this week because I need to walk more, so I take the subway most days. I don't drive to the corner store; I walk or ride my bicycle. I don't fly anywhere because I can't afford to and don't have enough vacation time at work to take off. My house has plastic on the windows for winter and I bought new patio doors which are better sealed than the old ones. 5. I am not a member of any environmental organization. 6. For the future, I see hybrids only as an interim solution. We will eventually either run out of oil, or the Arab oil producers (and their allies) will make life so miserable for the rest of the world (they're doing that now) that they will eventually get the message that using petroleum just isn't worth the cost. The answer has to be either electric cars, or some sort of renewable energy source that is locally available in all countries. I always say, if we can put a man on the moon (and soon Mars?), then we can certainly find a way to get from Point A to Point B without petroleum. Hope this helps. I may be a bit radical in some areas, but that's who I am I guess. Best Wishes...Bill H.