Re: I Guess the Backyard Will Have To Do, March 14 The News.

Mark Cripps talks about the high cost of gas and how he cannot afford to drive a six-cylinder SUV to the cottage.

Unfortunately, because of the huge spread of cities in Canada, public transit is not a good alternative for many people. It's slow and does not cover large areas.

Hybrid cars will not save you any gas on the way to the cottage as you do not use the brakes to create energy. Also still hidden are the huge costs of replacing the battery after so many years.

People in Europe and many other parts of the world -- except north America -- drive diesels. The new ones are very clean and very powerful.

In Europe you can get any SUV or car, including European, GM and Ford, with diesel engines.

Those engines are built extremely strong, last half a million kilometres and consume 40 per cent less fuel. The problem is that most of them are not yet available in North America, except expensive Mercedes, the large Chrysler SUV and some VW models.

Myself, I have driven an old diesel car for over 15 years and still get 22 kilometres a litre.

Abe Jacob, Dundas