Getting Nevada Off Oil

The cost of our oil addiction

American families are paying more than ever for our addiction to oil. With rising global demand and instability in the Middle East pushing oil prices ever higher, oil dependence takes an enormous bite out of our paychecks and our economy. But the prices that we pay with our wallets are only a fraction of the true costs of our addiction to oil:

• Global warming: Oil consumption is the number one source of carbon dioxide—the most important global warming pollutant — from the U.S. economy. America’s emissions of global warming pollution from oil burning alone exceed the total emissions of every nation in the world other than China. 

• Air pollution: Combustion of gasoline in motor vehicles produces nearly one-third of the nation’s air emissions of nitrogen oxides and more than one-fifth of emissions of volatile organic compounds. These two pollutants are responsible for the ozone smog that threatens the health of millions of Americans. Oil refineries are also major sources of toxic air emissions.

• Oil spills and leaks: Oil spills such as the BP Deepwater Horizon impose massive damage on the environment. Over the past decade, more than 1 million barrels of oil products have leaked from petroleum pipelines, while there are approximately 7,300 reports of leaking underground oil storage tanks each year, which threaten the safety of groundwater supplies.

• Rising environmental threats: As oil from easy-to-reach reservoirs has run out, oil companies have increasingly used riskier and more environmentally destructive methods to obtain oil. Production of oil from Canada’s tar sands has destroyed vast areas of boreal forest, polluted local waterways with toxic substances, and increased global warming pollution. In the United States, the risks of deepwater offshore drilling were demonstrated by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, while oil companies hope to someday use processes similar to those used in Canada’s tar sands region to produce oil from shale in the American West.

It doesn't have to be this way. And in 2011, Environment Nevada, in conjunction with our national federation, made encouraging inroads in our effort to get America off oil.

At 54.5 mpg, a big move to get America off oil

Last summer, in the wake of an ExxonMobil spill that dumped 42,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone river, our staff and allies mobilized 10,000 people to voice their support for cleaner cars that use less oil. 

The Obama administration responded by announcing two big steps toward getting America off oil:

• New fuel economy standards will make 54.5-mpg cars the norm by 2025.  This is the single biggest step ever taken to reduce oil consumption and global warming pollution.

• The first-ever fuel efficiency standard for trucks will save more than 20 billion gallons of gasoline by 2018. 

In the weeks and months ahead, Environment Nevada will continue its work to push these new standards past the finish line. 

What you can do: 10 tips to get off oil

Strong fuel efficiency standards could be the most important policy ever enacted to reduce our oil dependence and global warming pollution. However, small changes can also add up to a big difference.

Click here for our Top 10 Tips to use less oil and shrink your carbon footprint.