This story on Foxnews.com tells us of a new class of elitism, that of the Eco-Snob.  Apparently, Toyota Prius owners think very highly of themselves:

Every morning, as Lynn Schmidt walks out of her Long Island, N.Y., home, opens the door to her baby-blue Prius, waves to her grumbling neighbor and pulls out of the driveway, she has every reason to smile.

It’s not just the 45 miles per gallon her gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle is getting. And it’s not only that she can go three weeks without a fill-up.

It’s also because that through her choice of automobile, Lynn is doing what she considers her share of being ecologically reasonable.

“Everyone should be concerned about the level of emissions,” says Schmidt. “We all need to do our part and make changes for the better.”

Ok, I can understand that.  I personally don’t believe in Global Warming, but I believe in being environmentally concerned.  It’s a personal choice, just don’t force it on me.

Schmidt says she bought the Prius two years ago partly because of the huge potential savings on gasoline, but also because the car offered her a chance to be environmentally conscious.

The other day, she pulled up next to another Prius — and the two drivers exchanged a knowing smile of eco-camaraderie.

“There can be some smugness on the part of the Prius owners because it’s distinctive,” says Michael Omotoso of the automotive-marketing-data giant J.D. Power and Associates. “It’s ‘Hey, look at me, I’m driving a hybrid.”

Studies conducted by J.D. Power show that the typical hybrid purchaser is better educated and wealthier than the average car buyer. Furthering the exclusivity is the fact that available hybrids are hard to find.

But do they thnk they’re better than the rest of us?  Haven’t seen it just yet…

“I think that we Prius owners need a dating/whatever program, to hook us up with other Prius owners,” says one poster on Priuschat.com.

He admits it’s half a joke, but says it “stems from my inability to look at people with gas-burning cars as attractive.”

Ok, I get it now. But Nigel Farndale has a personal story in the UK Daily Telegraph where he admits to a situation where he caught himself being an eco-snob.  In doing so, he realized something:

I’m all for recycling, sustainability, diversity, lowering carbon emissions and everything. But I do think the eco-awareness game has to be played more subtly than it is being played at the moment. When the BSE scare (the mad-cow disease) was at its height, there were those contrarians among us who made a point of ordering rare beef as a gesture of defiance. Others deliberately wore fur when that became the cause célèbre…

The eco-snobs are the worst. It is not enough they get to feel better about themselves for doing the right thing environmentally; they have to make someone else feel worse. Make them feel small, vulgar, immoral. I caught myself doing it in that queue the other day. And shame on me for that.

But the real kicker/story is from blogger Nicole Lucas Haimes on DailyCents.com. A self-confessed environmentalist, she claims that she was treated poorly by her friends after she bought an SUV to keep her children safe in the event of a crash:

When I began to shop for an SUV, I quickly settled on the Toyota Highlander, and figured I would make it right by buying the hybrid.

But when I crunched the numbers the additional dollars made no sense. I drive a mere 5000 miles a year and the sticker price was far beyond any possible fuel savings.

Then it started.

Imagine my surprise when I drove the car to my son’s private school on Los Angeles’ West Side only to get openly dissed. One mother said to my face, “You bought an SUV”?

Another Prius-driving mom nailed me, “I can’t believe you didn’t buy a hybrid.” My mouth twisted into a failed smile, as I thought to myself, “get a life.”

To make things worse, I came home to a phone message from a woman who drives a Lexus Hybrid—asking if it was true that I’d bought a new car? Don’t these people have anything better to do?

But the Eco Snobbery hurt.

I wanted to tell them that I am a Good Green Girl, who cares so much I went downtown to testify before the EPA on the Clean Air Act; evidence that I spend my time talking smog, not smug…

…more than half of Prius owners surveyed in 2007 by CNW Marketing Research said the main reason they purchased their car was that “it makes a statement about me.” Eco Vanity.

Have you experienced this? Not sure how many Prius (what is the plural of Prius, Priuses?) there are in Erie. Come winter, I could see them getting hung up on a nice three-foot snowdrift! I tend to think of Priuses like Jeff Dunham does.