Hidden in Plain Sight: The Oil in Our Lives

Thanks to better choices, Americans are using less oil. But we still use more than almost anyone else, and that needs to change.

Apr 18, 2014· 0 MIN READ

Culture and education editor Liz Dwyer has written about race, parenting, and social justice for several national publications. She was previously education editor at Good.

Most of us don’t think about oil except when we’re paying for it at the gas pump.

Problem is, oil isn’t just used to power our automobiles: Black gold is everywhere, a ubiquitous part of modern American life.

For example, it takes 14 gallons of oil to make the hamburger on your dinner plate and 10.5 gallons to manufacture that smartphone in your pocket.

Americans are particularly addicted to the stuff: We use a whopping 765 million gallons of oil—23 percent of the world’s consumption—every day. On average, each of us uses more oil than do the citizens of nearly any other country.

The good news is that Americans’ appetite for oil has waned slightly in the four years since the horrors of the BP oil spill, due in part to wider adoption of high-mileage and alternative-fuel vehicles, with a corresponding drop in greenhouse gas emissions. So choices matter, and we can make a difference.

Nonetheless, U.S. oil consumption needs to fall dramatically to avert catastrophic climate change. So share this infographic, "The Great Invisible: A Snapshot of the Hidden Oil in Our Lives," on social media.

Greater awareness may lead to further reductions in our energy use. Every drop counts.

This content was created in partnership with our parent company, Participant Media.

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