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The
450 million vehicles on the road today account for half of the world's
total consumption, generate nearly one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions,
and have pervasive effects on land use and air quality. Personal
transportation (i.e., home use) is responsible for 30 to 50% of greenhouse
gas emissions and air pollution, 33% of toxic water pollution, and
over 45% of toxic air emissions. In addition, fueling passenger cars
accounts for more than one quarter of world oil consumption.
Building roads for all those cars also creates a lot of environmental problems,
fragmenting habitat, consuming resources for their construction, and generating
water pollution from runoff. In the U.S., roads and parking lots occupy one
half of urban space. That much land, if dedicated to food production, could
produce enough grain to feed 200 million people per year.
Light trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUV) are all the rage today, but
have severe implications for the environment. The average new light truck or
SUV gets lower gas mileage and does not have the same emissions standards as
a new passenger car, meaning it will emit more pollutants than a new car.
Of course, there are ways to navigate through our daily lives with less environmental
impact while still enjoying the open road- with smarter driving habits, one
day our roads could indeed be much more open!
 Buy smart…..
 Drive smart…..
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