Green or Not?

Back home now and I have been contemplating this. I spend a decent amount of time driving and I enjoy observing the different types of vehicles zooming around me. I guess one of the biggest things going now is the Green automobile.
What makes a car green? Fewer emissions, improved fuel mileage, or both? I see the proud people of the world feeling good about themselves while driving their Green autos saving the ice caps and more importantly cute baby seals. Well I have a thought on this Green car madness.
Lets start with the all mighty Hybrid which uses batteries and an engine. We'll start by realizing the price of a Hybrid verses a normal car. You can expect to pay several thousand more for that option but we are talking Earth Green not pocket green. Have you ever thought about where the batteries come from? How about Ni cad which are made from nickle mined somewhere with heavy equipment tearing up the Earth. Then the nickle is shipped to somewhere else on a huge diesel ship for manufacture and then shipped again to the auto plant on the same type of giant transport. I am not to sure of the life of one of these batteries but the average Hybrid has several and when it no longer maintains a charge you can start this whole process over again. Plus they only get about 40 to 50 MPG. That may sound good but the 3 cylinder Geo Metro got about the same and cost a lot less.
How about those new electric cars? I have yet to see a plug in car that cost less than $35k, that's a little steep for me. These cars require slight modification to the electrical system in your house to charge. The inconvenience of charge time and driving range is another drawback. The MPG still not immensely impressive because most still use a motor to charge the batteries to increase range and to not leave you stranded.
Diesel is more friendly when you are looking for increase in MPG but still maintain performance and a wide variety of vehicles. Too bad the US has not caught on to the diesel craze like Europe. Yes the emission footprint isn't much different than gas motors but the savings in fuel consumption is important for our countries economic future and import dependency.
I am not opposed to the for mentioned autos but I am not convinced this is the salvation of the world or it's the right path to go down. While "cash for clunkers" promoted complete fiscal irresponsibility by encouraging people who drove a payed off old car to go in debt for a new over priced Green car it also destroyed valuable parts that could have been reutilized or "recycled". You can get comparable mileage in many older vehicles with regular fuel motors. One of the best ways to reduce fuel consumption is to curtail your driving habits and keep up with the proper maintenance on your ride. Driving habits can turn a Prius into a gas hog. Try accelerating slower and doing the speed limit. Trust me it will make a difference. Good air and spark will keep your engine burning fuel most efficiently.
I guess my point is that Green cars of today pollute in their own special ways and if you average the car payment verse the fuel mileage you are probably better off keeping your old car or not paying the difference for the Hybrid.