For most of the 20th Century, the United States was the world’s largest producer of petroleum. U.S. oil fields provided not only all our domestic needs; they generated a surplus for export. U.S. oil fueled the Allied armies during WWII. But U.S. domestic production peaked in the early 1970s and has declined ever since, while our consumption has continued to climb steeply. The shortfall has been made up by imported oil.
Americans use a lot of oil. Although we constitute only 5% of the world’s population, we consume 25% of global oil production. America epitomizes the petroleum-dependent lifestyle.
In his first televised interview since winning the election, President-elect Barack Obama spoke with Steve Kroft of CBS’s 60 Minutes about the potential bailout of the American auto industry. He also reminded the American people about the importance of breaking from their addiction to oil—despite the recent and dramatic drop in prices at the pumps.
As investors grappled with the potential ramifications of a looming global economic downturn today, oil prices fell to levels not seen since late 2007. The dive was precipitated by a growing sense that in the coming months, businesses and individuals around the world will drastically cut oil use, and that a spike in demand from emerging economies is about to plateau.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a report which sites an overall improvement in new car fuel efficiency from 20.6 miles per gallon in 2007 to a projected 20.8 miles per gallon for 2008 – a jump of .2 miles per gallon. A small step in the right direction.
As the current congress scrambles to pass an energy bill before its term expires at the end of the year, some parts of the House version of the legislation should be of note to green car enthusiasts.
If you've watched any cable news or read the editorial pages of a major newspaper in the past few months, you're likely to have come across advertisements energy baron T. Boone Pickens' plan to decrease America's dependency on foreign oil. One element of the plan is the promotion of a long existent but relatively unused automotive technology: engines powered by compressed natural gas.
The drop in oil prices—more than $50 off the record high price of $147.27 a barrel on July 11—raises questions about how soon auto companies will deliver on exciting plans for “game-changing” alternative vehicles.
If the US automobile industry ramps up its efforts to produce eco-friendly vehicles for the mass market, it could cut the nation’s gas consumption by 30 to 50 percent by 2035. That’s according to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the study also asserts that the mentality of car consumers will need to change.
Retail gasoline prices dropped for the 34th consecutive day on Tuesday, hitting a summer low of $3.73 per gallon. Supply and demand curves in auto and gasoline markets are squeezing Americans between declining gas prices, reduced consumption (on pace to decline for the first time in 17 years), sustained interest in smaller cars, and rising nerves about when the price of gasoline could spike above $4 once again.
