Cartman was RIGHT!!!

If you aren't a cynical bastard like me, you might think that the people who say they love the planet love other people even more. Otherwise, why would they care about the environment so much? But a new study confirms what I'VE always maintained... that people who CLAIM to be environmentally-friendly are really a bunch of self-serving d-bags (well, okay, maybe that is a BIT harsh...)

Researchers from the University of Toronto set up a series of tests to compare the behavior of environmentally-conscious people against the behavior of people who are less "crunchy." What they found is that people who buy "green" products are more likely to LIE and CHEAT, and are six times more likely to STEAL, than people who are less environmentally conscious. And in general, they're MEANER overall.

According to the researchers, it has to do with something called "moral balancing." The idea is that since "green" consumers have done so much to help the planet, they think they've built up so much goodwill that they're ALLOWED to be jerks. Or as the researchers put it, quote, "Virtuous acts can license subsequent asocial and unethical behaviors."

In other words, as Eric Cartman and I would have told you all along: Never trust a tree-hugging hippie!!!!