Americans Are Fueling Up Cheaply, and the Climate Suffers

Cheap gas puts people back on the road and buying gas-guzzlers, reversing long decline in greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles.

So much for the idea that American gasoline use topped out in the last decade.

Lower oil prices and the improving economy have sparked an increase in fuel use, road travel and vehicle emissions.  It puts an emphatic end to the notion that better fuel economy and fewer active drivers would shrink demand for gasoline in the U.S. from what was thought to be its peak in 2007.

That’s bad news for the climate.  Processing crude oil and burning gasoline send huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and are major contributors to global warming.  The increase in those emissions comes at an inopportune time.  World leaders expect the U.S. to lead the way on emission reductions as negotiations continue toward a global climate treaty in December.

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