Why (what are the reasons) that people use up so much gasoline?

Question

and give us ways to solve that......for instance, people use a lot of gasoline to get to and from work, so maybe they could work from the internet instead, or maybe they could sell other ways, etc

Answer 1

I believe it is because gas prices are not high enough yet, they need to be higher then the more Eco friendly ones.

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Answer 2

People work where their employers tell them to work.

The majority of gasoline is used by people who commute to and from work, shop for food, go to the doctor, take the kids to school and soccer practice, and many other activities associated with family life..

The tone of your question suggests to me that you are making a moral judgment against people who use gasoline to commute to work and perform their daily obligations to family members, employers and the community.

I have been actively involved in the environmental movement since 1963.

When you scold people about their failure to behave as environmentally conscious as you think they ought to behave, they vote for weak incompetent Republicans who cause far more damage than the excessive use of gasoline.

How do you think that Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush managed to get elected? The Republican party is a minority party based on voter registration.

No, it was not Republican trickery, it was Democratic stupidity alienating millions of Democrats whose families have voted Democratic for generations(1).

Answer 3

The average American's uses the largest about of his fuel on his home.

Live in a smaller dwelling.

Answer 4

I used exactly the amount of fuel I need to get things done.

I'd use public transportation but it's too slow, doesn't operate on my schedule, doesn't go exactly where I need it to go and I don't care for the thugs and flakes that seem to be everywhere on public trasportation.

Answer 5

Many reasons, and many simple solutions.

1) Gasoline is cheap, so there's little financial incentive for people to conserve gas.  Solution: create a bigger gas tax, or better yet, tax the oil companies directly.

2) Urban sprawl.  Many people prefer to live in suburbs rather than within cities, which makes them travel more and waste more gas.  Solution: limit development of suburban areas.

3) Commuting.  Some people can't afford to live where they work, or prefer to live in a cheaper area.  Solution: encourage telecommuting and improve public transportation.

4) American attitutes.  Many Americans feel like they need to own gas-guzzling SUVs for a variety of reasons.  Solution: improved technologies such as electric vehicles, which have very good acceleration, and increasing gas prices to make owning a gas-guzzler financially painful.

5) Lack of other options.  Many people are unwilling or unable to walk or bike to travel, and in many areas public transportation is inadequate or nonexistant.  Solution: improve public transportation, create more bike lanes, and encourage biking and walking.

Answer 6

Most cars are built to go much faster than legal speeds most places in the world.  It's done because it gives better acceleration and performance at lower speeds.  This is done due  to public demand.  People want it to decrease transportation time, and create more leisure time.  Cars do not need to go faster than 60 miles per hour for commuter use.  Anyone needing to go faster should be riding a train or plane, and governments should be providing them.It's worthwhile to note that the car companies and oil and gas companies successfully lobbied city and state governments to remove the fine rail system in place prior to WWII, to force people to buy cars.  This is where most of the gas goes.  A lot of the rest goes to people hauling around lots of empty space, driving vehicles much bigger than they need.  I have no idea why that's done.  probably because some people see their car as an extension of their personality.

Answer 7

because it's cheap and we can afford it!

Answer 8

The main reason is that, compared to their income, it's still cheap.  No matter how much they complain about the price.

In Europe gas is way more expensive compared to their income, and they drive much smaller cars.

That will eventually change, but not likely before we see major problems from our overdependence on imported oil.

The real fix will be to build more cars that run on other fuels.

Answer 9

im only 18. i use soo much gas. i live out in the country of vermont. whenever i want to do something fun or have some type of entertainment i have to travel at least 30 miles.  work is far away. we have no other means of transportation except for bike or on foot.

Answer 10

My answer would be:

More people are commuting, reasoning, the best schools are rural, not city schools.  You get more house for your buck in rural areas.

And crime stats are lower in rural areas.

But, jobs are few, or non existent in rural areas, so although most people are moving to the suburbs, the jobs are still in the city.

I drive 45 minutes each way to work, my kids are in one of the best schools in our area, and I rent a house for less than the price of apartments in the city where I work.

Answer 11

Urban sprawl is causing so much longer commutes for everybody in so many areas (in the states, at least).  People that can't afford to live in the city or want a little more house than they can get in the city must go further and further to afford to be able to...  Development of better mass transit systems needs to be done (and implemented) to move people from the evergrowing suburbias into the city (or work centers).

Next...  when you are sitting in traffic trying to get to work/home from work, look around at the other drivers in their cars.  How many of these are single-occupant vehicles?  Carpooling just isn't happening nearly enough.  People using public transit isn't happening enough.  Everybody wants the convenience of going where they want to go without having to detour at all whatsoever for anything.  We are becoming a people that want everything instantly.  People are losing patience and are becoming more and more accustomed to getting everything they want immediately that anything less seems like a hassle.  

As someone else mentioned, gasoline prices are too low (in the states).  Even when gas hit its peaks and everybody was complaining, usage did not decrease.  That's just maddening to me!  All the complaining in the world, yet no change in people's responses to it?

Solutions...  I definitely believe we should have much higher taxation on fuel, as in much of Europe.  The taxes could go to developing better mass transit systems which could hopefully be a greater incentive for more people to get out of their cars.  Also, better and safer bike lanes to increase biking in cities.  Gas prices as high as they are in Europe have made fuel efficient smaller cars much more popular as well as not driving.  Seems like a good lesson to learn...

Answer 12

We use up so much gasoline because we're convinced there's a never-ending supply of OIL and all our other natural resources.

Besides, even if we do run out of OIL, it will be long after we're dead and gone, so why should we worry about it?

Let our children, grand children and great-grandchildren deal with it!    -RKO-   08/25/07

Answer 13

Yes, good question.  Another possible solution is to stagger work hours.  Why are the highways parking lots for 4 hours twice a day?

Another is to end ruralification programs that tax people in cities to provide technology to the suburbs.  These programs just lead to urban sprawl.