Declining Gasoline Consumption Means We Don't Need Pipelines

Reader Contribution by Earth Policy Institute
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This article was reposted with permission from Earth Policy Institute.

Freeing America from its dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world is an admirable goal, but many of the proposed solutions — including the push for more home-grown biofuels and for the construction of the new Keystone XL pipeline to transport Canadian tar sands oil to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast — are harmful and simply unnecessary. Gasoline use in the United States is falling, and the trends already driving it down are likely to continue into the future, making both the mirage of beneficial biofuels and the construction of a new pipeline to import incredibly dirty oil seem ever more out of touch with reality. 

U.S. motor gasoline consumption peaked at 142 billion gallons in 2007. In each year since, American drivers have used less gasoline. In 2012, gas use came in at 134 billion gallons, down 6 percent off the high mark. 

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