2008/04/23

What is wrong with this country?

This graphic pretty much says it all:

Miles per gallon for new cars:
Japan 46
EU 43
China 36
USA 27.5

Miles per vehicle driven annually:
Japan 7097
EU 7829
USA 12,427

Consumption of oil since 1980:
Denmark -33%
Germany -20%
France -14%
Japan +0.2%
UK +2%
USA +21%

Ratio of American methods of commuting:
Bike 1
Walk 5
Transit 9
Carpool 21
Drive alone 154

1 comment:

Keith Moore said...

Actually, this one's really really easy: that which is cheap is used to excess. Compared to the places with vastly superior gas milage, the US has historically enjoyed lower gas prices. It takes a long, artifically-sustained period of high gas prices to change consumption behavior; just about the only entity that can cause this period is the government whether by doing something (when nothing is neccessary) or doing nothing (when something is neccessary).