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Funding Petroleum Warlords |
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There seems to be little disagreement that US military aggression in the Middle East is related to petroleum consumption.
There also is little disagreement that US dollars fund this military aggression, and that US citizens are the largest market for petroleum in the world.
Just how big is the US petroleum market? Personal Consumption Expenditures are about $160 billion per year.* Divided by 300 million US citizens, that works out to $533 per year, or $44.44 per month for each man, woman, and child in America. A typical family of 5 will spend about $222 each month for petroleum products.
Consider your own experience -- does that sound about right? Remember to include oil and the other fluids your vehicles consume.
The TOTAL cost of personal transportation will include two other expenses: "Transportation Services" and "Motor Vehicles and Parts". These add $680 billion per year to the expenditures.
Divided by 300 million US citizens, that works out to $2,266 per year, or $189 per month for each man, woman, and child in America. A typical family of 5 will spend about $944 each month, in addition to the $222 for petroleum, on personal transportation. These figures DO NOT take into account the amount they are spending to have food and consumer goods trucked in from all over the world -- these are just the PERSONAL transportation expenses.
What if we convinced everyone to reduce their consumption by 20%? They would save $528 per year on petroleum alone! By reducing consumption of petroleum by 20%, we would also reduce our reliance on imported petroleum, and therefore our need to wage war in the Middle East.
That would mean $32 billion less the petroleum warlords would get each year from US citizens. With a $32 billion cut in revenue, campaign spending would be reduced significantly, greedy executives would cut their own salaries last, and the current political system would be altered.
Studies show that slowing down to 55 miles per hour (MPH) will reduce fuel consumption by 20% to 50%. As individuals, we can do our part by simply obeying existing speed limits and never exceeding 55 MPH. Even more can be done by refusing to buy gas-guzzling SUVs and using public transportation instead.
WE CAN DISARM THE PETROLEUM WARLORDS by refusing to fund them. Visit www.drive55.org to learn more, and Take The Pledge to obey existing speed limits, never exceeding 55 MPH, and urging Congress to restore the national 55 MPH speed limit.
* US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics. http://www.bts.gov/transtu/indicators/Economy/html/Personal_Spending_On_Transportation.html
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Drive 55 KTLK Radio Interview |
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October 31 radio interview with Marc Germain on Los Angeles radio station KTLK 1150AM. Click Read More to listen. |
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Ideas to reduce GHG emmissions submitted to CARB |
In response to the California Air Resources Board solicitation for ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, October 1, 2007 the Drive 55 Conservation Project submitted these three pdf files offering our ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The files are named as follows:
Sept_2007_reduce_GHG.pdf (application/pdf) 88kb
Drive 55 Conservation Project Action Plan.pdf (application/pdf) 121kb
Emissions Impact of Elimination of the National 55 mph Speed Limit.pdf (application/pdf) 101kb
View all the submissions here.
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We need your help to contact these organizations, urging them to endorse the Drive 55 Conservation Project. Please look over the list below, and if you find you are a member or supporter of any of them, take a few minutes to send a letter or e-mail asking them to endorse the Drive 55 Conservation Project. If they hear from you it will help them to have confidence there is public support and encourage their endorsement.
Thank you in advance for your care and concern for this fragile environment we all share. |
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