Pain at the pump gets worse — and reveals automobile dependence

So far in 2011, the average Mississippian is spending more than 11 percent of household income on gasoline — an unprecedented figure.  Kentucky and South Carolina residents are approaching 10 percent of their income spent at the pump, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports in Ranking States’ Gasoline Price Vulnerability and Solutions for Change.

The dollar amount that US residents are spending at filling stations has risen dramatically in the last two years — especially in 2011. The US average is 7.5 percent of income so far in 2011 — up from 4.81 percent for 2010, the report reveals.

“Unrest in the Middle East has raised concerns about how dependent the United States is on foreign oil,” NRDC states. “The price of gasoline has been skyrocketing. And the recession has continued to make many Americans feel more economically vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, residents of Connecticut are spending only 4.53 percent of their income in 2011 on gasoline — the lowest of the 50 states. The report shows how some parts of the country are affected more than others.

The states that fare worst are among the lowest in per capita income.  This finding highlights the lack of price resistance in the transportation sector in areas of the country that are highly automobile dependent.

Mississippi is a rural state, but it also includes a lot of sprawl. Its rural residents shop at Walmart and many live in subdivisions and work in the service sector. Mississippi uses nearly three times the gasoline per capita as residents of the District of Columbia, which wasn’t included in this report. There are many poor people in cities, but they have more transportation options as fuel prices rise. In areas characterized by exurban development and rural sprawl, there are few options. Oil is an international commodity, that, unlike housing, costs the same whether you live in a poor or rich region.

The states where residents spend the most of their income on gasoline and are therefore most vulnerable to rising fuel prices are: 1) Mississippi, 2) South Carolina, 3) Kentucky, 4) Georgia, 5) Idaho, 6) Oklahoma, 7) North Dakota, 8) Arkansas, 9) Iowa, and 10) New Mexico.

Those least vulnerable states are: 1) Connecticut, 2) New York, 3) Massachusetts, 4) Rhode Island, 5) Colorado, 6) Washington, 7) New Jersey, 8) Maryland, 9) Pennsylvania, and 10) Hawaii.

NRDC also examines and ranks states based on what they are doing to make their citizens less dependent on gasoline. NRDC concludes:

• Oil dependence affects all states, but some states’ drivers are hit harder economically than others. Drivers in almost every state in 2010 spent a higher percentage of their income on gasoline than they did in 2009, and drivers in the most vulnerable states spent more than twice as large a percentage of their income on gasoline as drivers in the least vulnerable states.

• Drivers are being hit even harder right now than they were in 2010.

• While some states are pioneering solutions and many are taking some action, many states are still taking few (if any) of the steps listed in this report to reduce their oil dependence.

To curb America’s perilous oil addiction, we need effective government policies that will increase the availability and use of efficient vehicles and clean fuels, as well as promote smart growth and public transit.

State policies for reducing oil dependence include promoting more efficient vehicle fleets and developing low-carbon standards for fuels, NRDC says. A third category, of particular interest to urban and transportation planners, is “Transportation system efficiency.”

An area where states can play a particularly large role in reducing oil dependence is promoting transportation system efficiency — i.e., integrating land use and transportation policies and designing them to reduce vehicle-miles traveled and promote alternatives to driving. Three states have codified or are implementing targets for reducing vehicle-miles traveled. Eight states have adopted telecommuting policies to encourage companies to enable their employees to opt out of driving. Seventeen states are taking action to encourage cars already on the road to use less gasoline by placing restrictions on idling. Sixteen states have adopted smartgrowth/growth management policies to curb sprawl and reduce the associated traffic. Public investment can also be a critical strategy for states seeking to reduce oil dependence, and in 2010, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey led the way in prioritizing the funding of public transit through the allocation of state funds.

The 10 states that are doing the most to wean themselves from oil, according to NRDC, are California, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont.