Inflated Tires, Deflated Arguments

Barack Obama delivered some common sense advice on the stump recently about the high price of oil: properly inflated tires and regular tune ups can save gas. If everybody did, it would save a lot of gas. Did you know:

• The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.
• Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires are under-inflated.
• Proper tire inflation can save the equivalent of about 1 tank of gas per year.
• Proper tire inflation also reduces CO2 emissions.
• Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires with lower than recommended pressure, because people don’t know how to check their tires or don’t realize that tires naturally lose air over time.

This is part of Car Care 101, about as basic as knowing where to put your car key.

So since when did common sense advice about saving gas become something to ridicule? You probably know some of the media “celebrities” that slung the most of this hydrocarbon-aided hash. But you may not know that some people and organizations not whole supportive of the Illinois senator actually agree with his suggestions. They include:

• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
• McCain V.P. short-lister Charlie Crist
• NASCAR
• President Bush’s Highway Traffic Safety Department

Here’s what that aforementioned organization published in the “Energy conservation from systematic tire pressure regulation” study in 2006:

The study indicates that substantial benefits would accrue if car care facilities systematically offered complimentary tire pressure checks with oil changes including: (i) increased safety by decreasing all crashes and saving more than 100 lives per year, (ii) reduced petroleum consumption by over a billion gallons/year, which would (iia) provide over $4 billion in economic savings for US consumers that could in part be recouped in retail/auto-care facilities, (iib) reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13.5 million tons and automobile pollution and (iic) enhance national security.

Mr. Obama never suggested that the U.S. could achieve energy independence by inflating tires. He said the aggregate savings from better maintenance would eliminate the need for off-shore drilling, as explained recently by Time magazine reporter Michael Grunwald:

“The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.

Is the math entirely accurate? Maybe, depending who is doing the ciphering. But even if it’s off by half, less off-shore drilling is a good thing. Because, in the end, the U.S has only three percent – yes, that’s right – three percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. And if it will take 10 years to see the first trickle of oil, drilling now won't do a thing to bring prices down. Driving less, like we're doing, along with better maintenance, is already achieving that,