YOUR GAS IS AS GOOD AS MINE

 

There are over 140 million cars in the U.S. According to the DOT (THE DEPARMENT OF TRAMSPORTATION), each is driven an average of 10,000 miles annually –which means that Americans drive more dtan a trillion vales every year.

 

BACKGROUND.

We all know that cars have a serious impact on the environment‑but because we depend on them in our daily lives, it's unrealistic to suggest that people stop driving altogether. (See p. 89 for suggestions on driving less)

 

Don't despair. Even if you drive every day, there's something simple you can do to help the earth: Make sure your car is running as efficiently as possible. Getting good gas mileage isn't just a matter of economics; a fu6efficient vehicle is actually less destructive to our planet than a gas hog.

 

DID YOU KNOW

 

0 Autos and light trucks emit 20% of this country's fossil fuel car~ bon dioxide (C02)‑ the key ingredient in the "greenhouse effect."

 

0 The amount of C02 a car emits is directly related to the amount of gas it uses. Cars give off 20 lbs. of C02 for every gallon of gas consumed. So a car that gets 18 mpg will emit a ton of C02 every 1800 miles. By comparison, a car that gets 27 mpg will emit 2/3 of a ton‑33% less‑‑in the same distance.

 

* Cars also cause acid rain by emitting 34% of the nitrogen oxide spewed out in the U.S. That's more than 7 million tons every year‑a figure that can be reduced by burning less gasoline.

 

* And cars emit 27% of the hydrocarbons that cause tree‑killing, lung‑damaging ozone smog. Again, this is directly related to the

 

amount of fuel consumed.

 

SIMPLE THINGS TO DO

 

9 Keep Your Car Tuned Up. It's the eastest way to make your car more fuel efficient. A well‑tuned car uses up to 9% less gasoline than a poorly tuned car. That means 9% fewer toxic emissions.

 

0 Keep track of your gas mileage. So if there's a sudden drop, you can catch it and get the problem fixed quickly.

 

 

SIMPLE GAS SAVERS 0 Don't let your car idle unnecessarily. It takes less gas to start a car than it takes to let it idle. Idling become less efficient than restarting your car after about a minute.

 

• Keep fuel filters clean. Clogged filters use mord gas.

 

• Stay light. Check to see whether you're hauling around unneces. sary weight (we mean in your car). Surprisingly, an extra 100 pounds will decrease your fuel economy by more than 1%.

 

IF YOU'RE BUYING A NEW CAR:

 

Check the specs. Get the latest EPA Gas Mileage Guide to check the fuel economy figures and compare specifications.

 

Keep fuel efficiency in mind. Remember: a car that gets 28.5 mpg (the standard for 1989 cars) will emit 15‑20 tons less C02 in its lifetime than the average car on the road today. You can now buy cars (e.g., the Geo Metro) that get almost 55 mpg‑and some prototypes (the Toyota AXV) have gotten up to 100 mpg.

 

Is an air conditioner really necessary? It's an ecological disaster. In addition to directly contributing to the greenhouse effect, and to ozone depletion by leaking CFCs, an air conditioner adds to the weight of a car‑‑so it uses extra gas even when it's not running

 

Weigh options carefully. Optional equipment like power steering and automatic transmissions need a lot of energy to run. Other extras like electric motor‑driven windows or power brakes don't use as much, but still add to a car's weight and reduce fuel economy.

 

RESULTS

Little things help: For example, if only 100,000 car owners who'd neglected tuneups started getting their cars tuned up regularly, some 90 million lbs. of C02 could be kept out of the atmosphere every year. A million car owners (that's less than 1 0/0‑‑remember, there are 140 million cars in the U.S. alone) could eliminate nearly a billion lbs. of C02.

 

SOURCES Gas Mileage Guide.

Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009. This free, annual Dept. of Energy / EPA publication will tell you dhe gas mileage you can expectftom each make and model of car. It even estimates what your gas bill will be.