SUVs aren't much more of an environmental issue than any other car; the bigger issue is the amount of kinetic energy on the road. Think about how much damage is done by a 40mph head-on collision in two Miatas. Now imagine that in two 6000 pound SUVs. The "Crumple Zone" expends energy by heat released during deformation of a metallic solid (i.e. bending metal), and lengthens the impulse (slows it down). Good freaking luck with that when you dump in twice or three times as much energy.

An SUVs fuel consumption is typically higher than a lighter vehicle's fuel consumption; however bigger engines are also much more efficient. While the fuel consumption isn't that much higher, it's still wasteful; but when you want to move a lot of heavy stuff, you're better off with the V8 than the I4. A loaded I4 will consume more fuel, whereas a nicely unloaded I4 will consume less fuel than an unloaded V8. The V8 always eats more unloaded, though, because the V8 is heavier (the moving parts physically weigh more) and the car is heavier. If you could make a high volume engine without making the pistons and crank shaft heavier than a small volume engine, you'd get much more efficient energy usage and lower the fuel consumption.

People are using the wrong tool for the wrong application. You might think 16 miles is nothing; but 16 miles is a significant trip for most people, it's just easy for dedicated cyclists. At a point, though, it becomes ridiculous: why are you driving to the liquor store 4 blocks away to get a 24 pack of beer that'll easily fit in the bike rear basket? Anything under 2-3 miles is going to take the same time on a bike as in a car if you're in the city, maybe 2-3 minutes longer; unless you're hauling unwieldy cargo (most people shouldn't pull trailers; I won't pull a trailer), why are you going by car?

We live in a country where people sell us things. People started buying lots of SUVs in the 90s when the TV started telling them they needed an SUV. After that, they started believing you need an SUV to be safe. Women buy SUVs when they're single simply "to protect themselves." Ironically, this is often because they're told or they believe that they're bad drivers; or because they ARE bad drivers, typically due to being afraid of other cars on the road. Truth is an SUV has worse handling characteristics (don't BS me about newer SUVs with awesome handling: it's a myth, you're not driving a Miata or a Monaro), worse 360 degree visibility (bigger vehicle), a larger stopping distances (it's friggin' heavy), etc. You're never going to learn to control your vehicle well enough to escape emergency situations that way; you have far too much blind area to even properly assess potential hazards on the road and pick your escape paths.

People don't buy things by assessing what they need; they want a one-size-fits-all solution. I think a small sports car like a Mazda MX-5 Miata is the best starting point for a first car, but only with appropriate driver's education. It's great, because you get a 6 speed stick shift and--get this--you have to remove the cell phone from your face to make the car move at all! At a light? One hand on the wheel, hit the clutch, one hand to the shifter. No hands free to keep texting while you just rock on the accelerator and ease through the light without even looking. The car handles well enough; you can only carry one passenger (who has to be over 21 and licensed, according to the law here); etc. So teach everyone all the collision avoidance and skid recovery and proper vehicular awareness stuff, put them in this tiny 4 cylinder car (it'll 0-60 in 7 or 8 seconds, it's not too slow; that's important, too, for safety reasons, but you don't need a 0-60 in 3.8 V8 BMW), let them go back and forth to school with all of a backpack to carry.

But then, maybe you get a kid that's 17 and helping his friends move a lot or whatever. He needs like ... a pick-up truck. Maybe his friends carpool to work with him; cool, he needs a 5 seat Sedan with some trunk space (Toyota Solara is an excellent car for this; too bad it's not RWD). Sure the Miata is a great introductory car; but it's a great introductory car for hauling very little, with exactly one or two people in it, without burning tons of gas or drag racing (speaking of racing, take that thing to the AutoCross on weekends; you can win races in the Miata, MUCH more fun than illegal street races, especially since a Miata is too slow to win those......).

An SUV isn't needed until... I don't know when you need an SUV. You need a full passenger load and a LOT of equipment to need an SUV. Hatch back is minus trunk space; if you have stuff to transport routinely that's too big to fit in the trunk (not too much, just too big) and needs to be covered (not chucked in the bed of a truck), you need an SUV.

People are just bad at making these decisions. SUVs are overall more dangerous to drive due to lack of handling, lack of stability (they can actually roll; my GTO was impossible to roll, you could make it drift or power slide, something I unfortunately never had a chance to try... still don't know where I'd find a track to play on for that, no way I'm doing that on the street), and lack of visibility. They have a specific use, which isn't a significant use case for most people. People are not optimizing their driving experience.

That's why they can't: they fail. When I got to work the first time, my heart was giving out (about 4 miles ago), my legs had already given out (6 and a half miles ago), and I could barely stand. My body was shaking, everything was shutting down. Don't tell me what I can't do; I've never failed at something because I can't.