Where Does Your Gas Money Really Go?
Several major oil companies recently released their 2012 earnings, and
their profits soared to new heights. It is not breaking news that oil
companies reap huge benefits from our oil use. In fact, as a new Union
of Concerned Scientists report shows, the vast majority of what
you spend at the pump ends up in oil company coffers.
Oil companies are using a portion of their profits to improve their
public image, arguing that these record-breaking earnings benefit the
millions of Americans who own stock in oil companies—so go ahead—fill up
your gas tank and help out your fellow citizen's retirement portfolio.
But this rhetoric begs the question: Does your oil use benefit you?
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In
Where
your Gas Money Goes, UCS calculated how much money an
average consumer spends on gas, where that money really goes, and what a
consumer can expect in return on their oil stocks. Our analysis shows
that the 'average' ExxonMobil shareholder gets far less than a
penny back from their annual gas expenditures. Even ExxonMobil
CEO Rex Tillerson, who owns 1.7 million shares of company stock, would
get only 34 cents back from a full year of purchasing gas only from his
own company stations.
The good news is that we can all benefit by investing in oil
saving solutions. In fact, whether you are an average driver or
an oil company CEO, reducing your own oil use is always a smart fiscal
strategy. Here are some encouraging numbers:
• $9,000 – the amount you would save on fuel costs
by investing $3,500 in purchasing the Ford Fusion SE Hybrid instead of
the conventional model;
• 11 million – the number of barrels of oil we
could save every day by 2035 by investing in efficiency and innovative
solutions instead of standing still;
• 9% over 9 years – the amount that Exxon has
reduced energy use at its refineries by investing in efficiency.
Together we can cut projected oil use in half over the next 20
years, but we need a strong and informed chorus of voices to
stop oil companies from blocking progress.
While we don't have the same marketing budgets as the oil
companies, we do have dedicated supporters like you who think
it's time to spend less at the pump and invest in solutions that will
protect consumers, the climate, and our environment from the growing
costs of our oil use.
Will you help us start a REAL conversation on oil spending and oil
solutions? Check out our new
Where
Your Gas Money Goes report and
share
it with your friends and family on Twitter and Facebook.
And if you're not on Twitter or Facebook, you can
help
spread the word here.
Thanks for working toward a "Half the Oil" future.
Sincerely,
Rachel Cohen
National Field Organizer
Clean Vehicles Program
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading U.S. science-based nonprofit organization working for a healthy environment and a safer world. Founded in 1969, UCS is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also has offices in Berkeley, Chicago and Washington, D.C. To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.ucsusa.org