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- Choose an efficient vehicle:
A car that gets 20 miles per gallon will
emit about 50 tons of carbon dioxide
over its lifetime. A car getting 40 mpg
will emit half that much. When buying
your next car, pick the least-polluting,
most efficient vehicle that meets your
needs. Maybe it's an innovative hybrid
that combines a gasoline engine with
electric motors (and never needs to be
plugged in). Or maybe it's a wagon
instead of an SUV. And over the average
lifetime of an American car, a 40-mpg
car will save roughly $3,000 in fuel
costs compared with a 20-mpg car, so
compare fuel economy performance before
you buy. (See
www.fueleconomy.gov's Find and
Compare Cars feature.)
- Drive smart. Get your
engine tuned up and keep your tires
inflated -- both help fuel efficiency.
If all Americans kept their tires
properly inflated (and a government
study shows that many don't), gasoline
use nationwide would come down 2
percent. A tune-up could boost your
miles per gallon anywhere from 4 to 40
percent; a new air filter could get you
10 percent more miles per gallon.
- Drive less. When possible,
choose alternatives to driving (public
transit, biking, walking, carpooling),
and bundle your errands together so
you'll make fewer trips.
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