Inventing a meme.

#1: Open with unbelievably general assertion: “ALMOST without exception, scientists and policy makers agree that hybrid vehicles are good for the planet.”

#2: Insert “other side” with HOWEVER: “To a small but insistent group of skeptics, however, there is another, more immediate question: “

#3: Unfounded assertion as interrogative: “Are hybrids healthy for drivers?”

#4: Wild, unfounded speculation based on questionable assembly of ideas:
- The flow of electrical current to the motor that moves a hybrid vehicle at low speeds
- With the batteries and power cables in hybrids often placed close to the driver
- Some hybrid owners have actually tested their cars for electromagnetic fields

#5: Defer responsibility for accuracy, but masquerade it as “balance”:
- which some studies have associated with
- there is no broad agreement over what level of exposure constitutes a health hazard
- while there may not be cause for alarm, neither should the potential health effects be ignored.
- ““It would be a mistake to jump to conclusions about hybrid E.M.F. dangers, as well as a mistake to outright dismiss the concern,” (cite: dubious source) Translation: Don’t buy this house. Or buy it. Either way, it’s a great, but maybe not so great, deal.

#6: Cite “sources”:
- some studies
- Some hybrid owners
- Researchers with expertise
- Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer
- a Swedish magazine
- hybrid drivers making their own readings
- wellness consultant (who tested for DC fields with an AC tester......HELLOO!!!??)

#7: Useless anecdotal evidence:

“I never had a sleepiness problem before,” Ms. Linzer said, adding that it was her own conclusion, not a doctor’s, that the car was causing the symptoms.

#8: Re-quote demonstrably baseless “scientific” claim:
- “Testing with a TriField meter led Brian Collins of Encinitas, Calif., to sell his 2001 Honda Insight..”

#9: Note the “scientific” test was done in 2001.

Rinse. Repeat. Collect paycheck from NYT.

Seriously, hasn’t someone written a computer program to output crappy journalism?

I’m not beating on you for linking it. I just saw the story differently - not a criticism of your perspective, either, btw.