Your car is responsible for emitting as much carbon dioxide a year as your entire house is. In fact, improving the fuel efficiency (miles per gallon) of your car is the single best thing you can do to prevent global warming. That's because gasoline and diesel-burning automobiles are the second largest single source of CO2 emissions in the U.S. In addition to carbon dioxide, they emit other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, which damage our crops and drinking water and caus smog, acid rain, respiratory problems, birth defects, and cancer.
One important way for you to help solve this problem is change HOW you drive your car.

What You Should Know

• Gasoline is made from oil. The U.S. currently imports 54% of its oil and two-thirds of the oil we use each day goes to transportation. By taking better care of your car and thereby improving its fuel efficiency, you will personally help reduce our country's dependence on foreign oil imports.
• The amount of CO2 your car's tailpipe emits is directly proportional to the amount of gas your car uses. If your car is not being taken care of or driven as well as it could, it's not achieving its optimum fuel efficiency.
• The world's population has doubled in the last 50 years, but the number of cars on the planet has grown tenfold.
• A tune-up will improve your car's fuel efficiency by about 15%. If your car is in really poor shape, a tune-up could improve its fuel efficiency by up to 50%!
• According to the Department of Transportation, one in four U.S. passenger cars have at least one substantially underinflated tire.
• If 100,000 people got their cars tuned up this year, they would save at least 124,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted, thanks to improved fuel efficiency.
• If you always drive smoothly on the highway instead of accelerating and braking rapidly, you could save upt o $210 a year in reduced gas consumption.

Easy Things You Can Do

• Keep your car tuned. A car that runs well uses less gas. Every month check to see if your radiator or anything else is leaking, if there's enough coolant inthe radiator overflow bottle, if the battery terminals and air filters are clean, and if the drive belts are tight. You can check these things while you're filling up at the gas station. Refer to your owner's manual to learn how to do any of these things.

Every spring and fall, change your car's oil and have a mechanic perform a basic tune-up--the improvement in fuel efficiency will more than make up for the cost. Last, be aware of how often you head to the gas pump. If you notice you're suddenly filling up more often than usual, it probably means something is wrong with your car.

• Inflate properly. Keeping your tires properly inflated can reduce your gasolin econsumption by 6%. That may not seem like a lot, but a 6% improvement in fuel efficiency will save the average car $40 a year in gas. More important, proper inflation greatly reduces the chances of having a blowout, which can cause everything from a simple flat tire to a fatal car accident. Always keep your tires at the maximum recommended pressure (check the label, usually located on your doorjamb, in the glove box, or inside the gas cap cover). Because tires lose pressure each month and with every 10°F drop in temperature, you should check your tires--including the spare--once a month. Buy a two-dollar pressure tester at your hardware store, keep it in the glove box, and check your tires while you're filling up.

• Don't idle. Letting your car idle for just 20 seconds burns more gasoline (and therefore emits more carbon dioxide) than turning your car off and on again does! Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, idling can actually harm your car, since it causes gasoline to condense on and damage your cylinder walls and spark plugs. So, if you're ever going to be parked for more than 20 seconds, turn your engine off. The wear and tear on your ignition will cost you an average of only $10 a year, which will be repaid many times over by gas savings.

Similarly, although it's tempting to warm up your car for 10 minutes in the winter, the resulting emissions are devastating to the environment and to your health. Studies have shown that driving is a much more effective way to warm your car up than idling is. And with today's electronic engines, you need to warm up your car for only 30 seconds on a winter day (to circulate the oil) before driving slowly away. Last, don't use the remote-control starter if your car has one, since it increases the amount of time your car idles.

• Keep it smooth. The more smoothly you drive, the less gas your car will use. Accelerating or braking rapidly when you're traveling at highway speeds can worsen your fuel efficiency by 33%! It's simple: The less you floor it and slam on the brakes, the less CO2 will be emitted.


• Slow down. You can reduce your car's fuel consumption by 15% simply by driving 55 mph instead of 65. That's because every car's fuel efficiency starts to plummet after 60 miles per hour. Plan ahead so you have plenty of time to get to your destination--then slow down, relax, and turn on some good tunes.

• Use the overdrive gear when you've reached a high enough speed.

• Use cruise control.

• Use high-octane fuel only if your owner's manual specifically calls for it.

• Avoid heavy luggage to keep your car as light as possible.

• Use the exact type of motor oil your owner's manual calls for.

• Use the air conditioner only when you're going over 40 miles per hour (otherwise open the windows).

Source: You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!) 51 Easy Ways, by Jeffrey Langholz, Ph.D., and Kelly Turner