Henry David Thoreau once said, “Thank god men cannot fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” Today every single person on this earth needs to think of ways in which to be more environmentally friendly, and with the rising gasoline prices, thinking about getting one of the new hybrid vehicles is an excellent, environmentally friendly choice.

Specialists in the environment look favorably on these new hybrid vehicles. Even the makers realize that consumers are asking for them more and more and the future looks very bright for vehicles that use alternative fuels. This is a big change compared to that of just a few years ago, when these cars were very hard to sell.

Hybrids are vehicles that use both gasoline and electric power to function. They function on both an internal combustion engine and they also use an electric motor. There are both, full hybrid vehicles that can run on either fuel source and mild hybrids that always need to work on internal combustion. Obviously the mild hybrid is not as environmentally safe as the full hybrid.

Mild hybrids use more gasoline than electric energy and they are better than full gasoline engines, but still not as good as the full hybrid vehicle.

The Full Hybrid can use the electric motor independently from the gas engine. The full hybrid can function completely on electricity thereby eliminating harmful emissions, at least while you are driving about town.

Current hybrids on the market are:

In the SUV model: * The Lexus RX 400h is an AWD vehicle that can get about 27 miles to the gallon in the city and 25 on the highway. * Ford Escape Hybrid comes in 2 and 4 wheel drive and gets a great 36 miles to the gallon in the city and 31 on the highway. * The great Mercury Mariner comes in 4WD and can get up to 32 miles per gallon in the city and 29 on the highway. * The Saturn Vue is a 2 wd with 27 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. * Toyota Highlander comes in 2 and 4 wd. and get about 33 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the open road.

Trucks * Chevy Silverado Classic 15 - This truck comes in both 2 and 4wd and gets 18 miles to the gallon and 21 on the highway. * GMC Sierra Classic 15 - Both in 2wd and 4 wd. This little truck gets 21 and 18 miles to the gallon.

Cars * Honda makes two hybrid models such as the Honda Civic, and the Honda Accord. These are the best as gas mileage goes. The civic gets 49 mpg and the Accord 25. * Toyota makes two hybrids, the Toyota camry and the Toyota Prius. Both get more than 40 mpg in the city and about 40 on the highway.