Driving the least fuel-efficient vehicles
December 4, 2007
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
A month ago, I had the opportunity to attend an energy and environment focused panel discussion at Stanford University. During the session, the ubiquitous New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman told us a story about a trip he made to China. Apparently during an automotive trade show, a Chinese auto executive walked up to him and said, “Mr. Friedman, I understand the terrible impact of global warming. But the west has been polluting the earth for a whole century. It’s our turn now.” Friedman feigned to agree, “Go ahead and pollute. It IS your turn.” He then added that by not working on cleaner automotive technologies, the Chinese nascent industry would be left in the dust again by the west. What he said made total sense to me, since China’s pollution had always been highlighted in the news.
So imagine my shock when I got this graph from a respected Stanford environmental engineering professor.
(courtesy of International Council on Clean Transportation)
In 2007, new passenger vehicles on the road
- in the U.S. average 25 miles per gallon
- in China average 34 miles per gallon (36% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
- in Japan average 41 miles per gallon (64% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
- in Europe average 42 miles per gallon (68% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
Three years from now, in 2010, new passenger vehicles on the road
- in the U.S. average 25.5 miles per gallon (not much change)
- in China average 37 miles per gallon (41% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
- in Japan averages 43.5 miles per gallon (71% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
- in Europe average 46.5 miles per gallon (83% more fuel efficient than the U.S.)
It translates to me that Americans are driving the LEAST fuel-efficient vehicles compared to other countries. The difference becomes more dramatic in the near future, as we remain more or less the same while other countries make visible improvements.
Sure we may have the ingenuity to innovate and build cleaner cars, but it doesn’t seem that American consumers have the desire to drive them. Our government certainly doesn’t seem to have the political will to increase the minimum fuel-efficient standard or to provide incentives to encourage the adoption of fuel-efficient cars.
What does that say about us Americans? What should we do as responsible world citizens?
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Comments»
what we should do is BECOME responsible world citizens. for starters, quit driving SUVs.
demanding higher standards from other nations than we are willing to fulfill ourselves just makes the U.S. look like the boorish world bully most believe us to be.
This is really sad but I guess not surprising from the only industialized nation not to be part of Kyoto. Recent polls show the vast majority of Americans are very concerned about climate change but we all, myself included, need to put our money where our mouths are.
I notice more and more hybrids on the road here in Silicon Valley where I understand Prius to be the number one seller. Let’s hope Silicon Valley is setting a trend here and that the trend happens quickly.
Hybrids are great and all, but our nation’s average fuel mileage would increase much more quickly if we would first just abandon the gigantic cars that we’re accustomed to driving. It’s quite shocking to come back from an extended vacation abroad and drive back from the airport, as it’s quite noticeable how much larger the vehicles are here.
At least the federal government got rid of the loophole from the early 2000s that allowed people to take a HUGE tax writeoff for any vehicle over 3 tons. But that law never should have existed in the first place.
I am looking forward to another summer of multiple 3 digit days in a row and no end in sught. I am quite sure the rest of the country is looking forward to more heat, more drought and worse storms. That is why we stick to our 8 - 16 mpg vehicles. We vow to stop crying about the cost of fuel. After all, they are paying upwards of $10 a gal in the Netherlands and close to that in London. And it doesn’t matter that they get 40 to 50 MPG. We are the strongest, smartest, richest nation in the world and will only dictate what the rest of the world should do. We DO NOT have to live by our own advice.
Now, just imagine what your grandchildren have to look forward to. Warm and fuzzy isn’t it?