SUV’s emit as much CO2 as 55 coal-fired plants! And the U.S. is the worst offender…

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Via the Guardian, the Environmental Defence watchdog group has a new report out showing that…

  • Americans represent 5 percent of the world’s population but drive almost a third of its cars
  • Americans’ cars account for nearly half the carbon dioxide pumped out of exhaust pipes into the atmosphere each year
  • U.S. cars play a disproportionate role in global warming because they’re less fuel efficient than passenger vehicles used elsewhere in the world; they emit 15 percent more carbon dioxide because they’re less fuel-efficient and are driven across America’s wide open spaces (see “sprawl,” “exurbs”…)
  • The average U.S. passenger vehicle has a fuel economy of less than 20mpg
  • Overall U.S. fuel consumption will continue to rise in the next few years
  • More SUVs are still sold in the U.S. than any other type of car. (This has been true since 2002.)
  • SUVs “soon will be the main source of automotive CO2 emissions”, emitting the equivalent of 55 large coal-fired power plants.

Ethanol, anyone? Read the full report here.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate