Whether OPEC likes it or not, hybrid owners are changing the landscape for car sales and automobile ownership. The process has been slow. Many people were not and are still not ready to pay the extra money to buy a hybrid. Some fear that technology will bypass the hybrid in the next couple of years, making their purchase a bad investment. Many people do not want to be the first one to buy a strange, new technology, just like when the regular car came into existence. Others have found that tax incentives and saving money on gas are the best reasons to go hybrid. For most hybrid buyers, however, the environmental reasons to buy one have outweighed any other reasons or any negative fallout that is present now or foreseeable in the future.

1. Emissions: With all the news about high gas prices and people across the country feeling the effects in their pockets, having a hybrid sounds like a great idea. Hybrids are super-efficient with their use of gas because they rely on electricity for some of their power. This has made it possible for hybrids to get great mileage. The environmental impact is phenomenal. Hybrids use less gas sending fewer emissions into the air. Chemicals from dioxide, to nitrogen oxide all get into the air with gas cars. Although hybrids still emit some fumes and toxic elements, they are performing so well that the EPA has made special ratings for them because they are putting about 90% fewer emissions into the air.

2. Getting Gas: Acquiring gas has become a major concern for the entire world. Having to build more refineries to produce gas will only put more chemicals into the air. Finding places to get oil are also becoming harder to find. Many have objected to the government's desire to drill in the protected parks of Alaska. Depending less on oil helps contributes to less destruction of our natural resources.

3. Effects on the Human Environment: When emissions get churned into the air, the environment is not the only place that suffers. The human body does not take well to the excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, lead and other chemicals that gas-guzzling cars use. Sitting in traffic, one experiences the odors alone that carry the cancer causing agents. All of the chemicals produced by emissions have been linked to cancer, birth defects and a number of other preventable conditions.

4. Ride the Environmental Wave: Many people say that buying a hybrid is a great idea, but not everyone buys one. It is hard to blame people, since the cost is thousands of dollars more than for a regular car, but for those who are taking the first steps, they are contributing to environmental awareness. Choosing a hybrid helps the market get the price down, which allows for more people to buy them. Buying a hybrid is one of the best ways to get the environmental domino effect moving.

5. Encourage the Government: Buying a hybrid car is beginning to get some encouragement from the government. Known for being dependant on foreign oil for years, the Federal government is beginning to see the benefits of hybrid cars being on the market and is offering tax credits through the end of 2006. Each person that buys a hybrid can be eligible for up to a $2,000 credit on their tax return. When more and more hybrids are purchased, it is likely that the government will consider the environment in its decisions.

Numerous other reasons to buy hybrids are being offered by the makers of hybrids, those who have already purchased one, and by dealerships. To many, any issues that makers are having with the production of hybrids seem like less of a problem than finding real ways to stay green. Emissions and efficiency have come to the forefront of people's minds more and more as gas prices rise. People are starting to be more concerned about the effects of high emissions on their health, and their future grandchildren. Choosing a hybrid makes a huge statement to the government and to other consumers. More and more people are beginning to ?choose green? when they buy a vehicle, which encourages more people that doing so is the right way to go.