It’s called ‘rolling coal’ in the USA. It’s a disease of the mind, where drivers of diesel pick-up trucks modify their engines to belch a cloud bank of exhaust soot at the flick of a switch. It’s also called ‘Prius dusting’, a derogatory use of the name of Toyota’s hybrid.
It’s done to protest environmental initiatives. Flipping the bird, but with a switch. Nothing unusual, say reports, to see a convoy of pick-ups – dollar to doughnuts driven by Trump supporters – ‘rolling coal’ and flying the Stars and Stripes.
One can imagine ‘Rolling Coal’ as the title of a Republican White House signature song, sung by Donald Trump to the tune of Ronnie James Dio’s 2004 number Living the Lie.
Backing vocals by education secretary Betsy DeVos, disgraced environmental protection agency chief Scott Pruitt, and White House anti-immigration zealot Stephen Miller. Musical arrangement by the Kadashians, It could go like this …
Trump solo …
‘Rollin’ coal across the USA,
Dusting every Prius along the way,
EVs too get the same coating,
Things won’t change the way I’m voting.
‘Coal, gas and oil is what makes me tick,
This EV stuff kinda makes me sick,
The planet isn’t warming, that’s a lie,
Check with Mike Pence, he’s my guy.
‘To hell with the environment, what do I care,
What’s in the ground won’t soon be there,
Alaska’s next, I’m told there’s a lot more oil,
It’s a waste of space so there’s nothing to spoil’
Cue vocalists DeVos, Pruitt and Miller for chorus …
‘Ambush a Prius and blow coal dust its way,
Ambush a Prius to have your say,
Ambush a Prius, we say it again,
In God we trust and say Amen’
One recent example of ‘rolling coal’: a truck carrying a giant wind turbine in Kansas failed to negotiate a corner, blocking traffic. As vehicles backed up, a diesel pick-up peeled out of the queue, let loose with a cloud of exhaust soot, and drove off in the opposite direction.
It was witnessed by a National Geographic magazine reporter and photographer driving a Tesla S sedan. They had earlier pulled into an EV charge station – only to find access to it blocked by a Ford F-250 pick-up truck.