20. Too Much Gas

By improving the mileage of the American car fleet by only 10 mpg by 2020, as Congress finally did, we’ll save a million barrels of oil a day.

BACKGROUND

With global warming, fears about foreign oil, and sky-high gasoline prices, you’d figure America would be rushing to make cars that use a lot less gas, right? Well, we’re not. The U.S. has one of the lowest fuel economy standards of any industrialized nation in the world. In fact, environmental groups have had to fight tooth and nail just to get Congress to approve the first increase in gas mileage standards in 30 years. This seems crazy. It should be obvious that while we’re developing alternative fuels (see p. 78) and plug-in electric cars (see p. 20) for the future, we need to dramatically cut down the amount of gasoline we consume right now.

DID YOU KNOW

• Every day, America uses about 405 million gallons of gasoline. The result: greenhouse gases, air pollution, contaminated groundwater, oil spills, a national security threat (about 60% is foreign oil). And we pay oil companies $1 trillion a year for the privilege.
• In 1975, Congress passed the first official gas mileage regulations, called Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The cars and light trucks in every manufacturer’s fleet are required by CAFE standards to meet a certain average fuel economy level.
• The law worked. In 1975, average gas mileage for American cars was 12.9 mpg. By 1985, the average mpg had increased to 27.5. CAFE standards were supposed to keep going up. But Detroit pressured the government to relax them in 1986…and 20 years later, passenger car mpg hasn’t improved by even 1 mpg.
• In 2007, Congress finally increased CAFE standards—by 8 mpg. A victory? Sort of: The government immediately used this modest increase as an excuse to keep states from passing more far-reaching standards. The EPA blocked, for the time being, a California law that substantially tightened emissions standards, saying improved CAFE standards were enough. Apparently, if we want cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars, we have to demand them ourselves.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your Partner: The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of our largest and most effective environmental groups. NRDC’s Move America Beyond Oil initiative is committed to building support for clean, efficient technologies and policies that push them into the market. Join the effort; check early and often for ways to make your voice heard at beyondoil.nrdc.org/50simplethings
Your Goal: Help cut global warming pollution by using less gas.

START SIMPLE

It’s a gas. Check the gas mileage of your own car. Experiment: See what happens when you do little things. Inflating the tires properly could save 200,000 barrels a day if everyone did it. Going 65 mph instead of 75 reduces gas consumption by 15%. Turning the car off if you have to wait longer than 60 seconds saves up to 19% of your fuel. Check our gas-saving tips at 50simplethings.com/savegas

STEPS FOR SUCCESS

Step 1. Talk to your local car dealer. Say you’re glad that Congress passed higher fuel economy standards, but you know carmakers can and should beat those goals. You might get a puzzled look at first, but if they hear from enough people about vehicle performance standards, they’ll send a message up the food chain. Dealerships are used to talking with customers about cup holders; they’ll be surprised to hear about policy. Get info at beyondoil.nrdc.org/50simplethings

Step 2. Send a message to carmakers. Changes in the car-rental market signal what car customers want…so demand fuel efficiency from rental companies; rent only high-mileage cars. And comment on the Internet; many carmakers are just starting to blog, so they’re paying attention to what’s said on their sites. Your comments about better gas mileage and global warming pollution will have an effect.

Step 3. Raise the issue with federal and state officials. Join with others in your community and set up meetings with candidates, representatives in D.C., the governor, and state legislators; tell them what you think. Stress additional issues like a stronger economy and national security. Hearing from hundreds of thousands of voters about this policy’s importance will make a difference. For NRDC’s regular updates, plus ideas for saving gas and pushing for better policy: beyondoil.nrdc.org/50simplethings