"As a consequence of the changes in vehicle fuel economy, vehicle distance travelled, and vehicle load, the total amount of fuel used increased by 53% (from 303 to 463 billion liters)."
But keep in mind that the US population increased by a similar percentage (52%)during the 1970-2010 period (see US census data). If average driving distances have indeed increased and user occupancy decreased, those factors have actually probably been totally made up for by increases in efficiency. What remains is more fuel being used to move around many more people.

Yes, and 2012 will soon be officially declared (with 2011) the year with all time highest human made emissions.

Tokyo's goals may not be met for years/decades to come unless:

1. transition to electrified vehicles is accelerated.

2. dirty coal fired power plants are modified or turn down.

3. transition to clean e-power sources is accelerated.

4. Garbage dumps are eliminated or gas emission fully captured.

5. shale gas and shale/tar sands operations are cleaned up.

6. 101 other actions

It is fair to conclude that it will not happen this year or during this decade.

Adjusted for inflation, we are paying about the same for gasoline. People complain about $4 gasoline in the U.S., a gasoline tax would bring about a call to "throw the bums out".

The U.S. burns 300 million gallons of gasoline per DAY! I hope that number sinks in so people can really look at their consumption patterns and help reduce the amount of imported oil soon.

After all that Reaganomic trickle down, 5% of the people ended up with 95% of the wealth increase.

Imagine all the one car families not commuting great distances with twice the mileage compared to 1970, we might not be importing as much oil.

Kit,

Those kind of comments don't help the discussion.

In 1982 we had high inflation, then Reagan signed a bill taking away interest deductions for credit cards and car loans, arguably the largest tax increase on the middle class ever.

Now you have BOTH adults in the household having to work and needing two cars to commute to and from work. Even though fuel mileage was up, so were the number of cars and miles driven.

I was pointing out some of the driving forces that led to this, it was part of Reaganomics where the rich get richer and they did. Then we get comments about hippies and school systems.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090312115133.htm

http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/science-knowledge/

“In 1982 we had high inflation ...”

Could SJC be repeating the agenda of his hippie social studies teacher or is he a flat out liar?

Inflation increased from 5% to 15% when Jimmy Carter was POTUS. When Reagan took the helm, inflation was driven back below 5% in four years.

“taking away interest deductions for credit cards and car loans ”

It was only a tax deduction for those who were irresponsible with their credit cards and bought big expensive cars. I not sure why anyone would think that the federal government should subsidize irresponsible credit card spending and big car payments.

“Now you have BOTH adults in the household having to work and needing two cars to commute to and from work. ”

Again that is not true. It is a choice. When we moved from California, we decided to buy a house based on one income and no new cars. When you are busy reading to your kids, the reward is worth more than all the wealth in the world. It is amazing that folks who are busy spending their money on recreational drugs fail to make the connection with not being able to afford a decent place to live. Blame it on POTUS, it does not matter which one.

“True; ”

I hope I was smart enough not to lecture my parents about the depression, WWII, and the Korea War because of something that a school teacher told me. Inflation is a terrible thing. Millions of Americans could not afford to heat their house because the cost of heating oil went from 25c/gal to $1.15. At the time I was in the navy and Carter thought that you could control the budget by not adjusting the pay of the military for inflation. I was the king of the car pool since I had a IH TravelAll instead of Pinto.

“rich get richer ”

One gets tired of this socialist crap. The solution is not for everyone to get poorer. If you want to me unhappy because others have more, that is a choice you make and you will still be unhappy when the next clown in in the White House.

Poverty is a state of mind. It costs nothing to pick the litter up in your yard and plant flowers. There is pride in ownership of that old single wide. Who is richer, the person stuck on the freeway in his BMW or the person who needs a riding lawn mower for the acre old single wide?

There is much disinformation being spread here.

Fuel consumption per capita is the ONLY measure that merits discussion. It hasn't changed much, even as travel per capita has increased markedly. This means that vehicle efficiency has increased even as pollution has gone way down. It also means that the average citizen's mobility and freedom has increased as well.

Imported oil statistics are indeed awesomely positive At the turn of the Century the USA was importing 12 million barrels of Oil per day. Now it is down to just about 6 milion barrels per day, with most of it now coming from the Western Hemisphere, freeing the US and Canada from dependence on unstable Mid East regimes.

Oil reserves and petroleum resources are much better today than at any time since the late 1960s, and more and more Oil is being found. The Russian belief that Oil is mostly abiotic in origin, and enormous quantities are being created geologically, is gaining acceptance and removes much of the concern for resource exhaustion for Centuries and Millenia.

We have now proven that western technological civilization can adapt and endure the myths propagated that forecast its doom and non-sustainability. It will not run out of any resource nor drown in its created pollution.

The places with the worst pollution are, as ever, the stupid Socialist regimes where a tight core of self- appointed oligarchs lord it over the rest of the population.