Originally published October 15 2005
Experts suggest U.S. explore alternate energy sources rather than avoid driving
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, experts have asked Americans to use their cars less often, but the United States is the most oil- and fossil fuel-dependent country in the nation, so Tuscaloosa News reports that the development of alternative energy sources would probably be more successful than avoiding gas pumps.
Living on a fixed income, Jean Hill and her husband used to clock double-digit mileage on their family car.
With the majority of Americans suffering from post-Katrina sticker shock, transportation experts are asking people to alter their driving habits.
But considering that the U.S. economy is built on its mobility, some might wonder whether avoiding the gas pump is really an option.
In the South, where people drive longer and spend more on traveling than elsewhere in the country, rising gas prices are more of an issue, said Dan Turner, director of the University Transportation Center of Alabama.
"American travel is a matter of convenience," Turner said.
"No other nation travels one person per vehicle like we do.
Consider these facts: Alabama ranks among the top five states in the nation in the percentage of personal income spent on driving, Turner said; residents spend about a fifth of their incomes on cars and gasoline, more than any other region in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The average Southern household contains about two cars, according to the U.S. Department of Energys Energy Information Administration; this is about the same as the national average; but with longer distances to travel on average, Southerners burn more fuel; Alabama ranks 23rd in the nation in population but 19th in gasoline consumption, the U.S. Department of Energy said; and while Alabama's population increased 11 percent between 1990 and 2003, travel on state highways increased by 38 percent.
With about 5 percent of the world population, the United States consumes about 40 percent of the world's available oil, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Fuel-efficiency standards have cut U.S. oil consumption by half over the last 25 years, the National Association of State Energy Officials reports.
But oil remains the leading fuel, cornering 40 percent of the U.S. market and essentially all the transportation market.
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