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There is something else going on, Texas home energy usage only accounts for about 1/8 of their total so even eliminating home usage (and commercial, too) would

There is something else going on, Texas home energy usage only accounts for about 1/8 of their total so even eliminating home usage (and commercial, too) would still leave a large difference. Maybe the cheaper gas probably insulates drivers from the costs of poor fuel efficiency and this lets people choose long commutes in spite of the driving time, and the laxer industrial standards encourages a concentration of some processes like the chemical plants in East Texas.

unit91 9y ago
Plus we Texans "all" own V-8 pickup trucks.
- msisk6 9y ago
  Nah, only the city folks. Us country bumpkins have straight 6 diesels.
- dublinclontarf 9y ago
  Whats wrong with a V-6?
ouid 9y ago
poor city planning and urban sprawl contribute far more to fuel consumption than low gas prices. See Los Angeles.
- singlow 9y ago
  But low gas prices are a cause of sprawl. If gas was more expensive it would change the economics of commuting.
  - dublinclontarf 9y ago
    No it wouldn't. Gas is about 2x as expensive in the UK. I work in London but commute (by motorcycle) from the next county. Plenty of people commute by car even though it's considerably more expensive.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- tomjakubowski 9y ago
  > See Los Angeles. See what? Los Angeles -- whether you slice by city, county, metropolitan statistical area, or combined statistical area -- ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles in the United States. In fact, the Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area has the second-lowest household fuel consumption in the country, just behind New York-Newark (at least according to a poorly-sourced Forbes article [1]). Unfortunately, publicly available fuel consumption data split by city/county/Census area is much harder to find. But what I have found suggests that Forbes's ranking of Los Angeles relative to other US metro areas is probably accurate. The National Household Travel Survey [2] is likely the best source of raw data for investigating this question. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/05/10/americas-biggest-and-least-gas-guzzling-cities/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/05/10/am... [2]: https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/national_household_travel_survey/index.html https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/su...
  - wutbrodo 9y ago
    > Los Angeles -- whether you slice by city, county, metropolitan statistical area, or combined statistical area -- ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles in the United States. In fact, the Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area has the second-lowest household fuel consumption in the country, just behind New York-Newark (at least according to a poorly-sourced Forbes article [1]). Wow, thanks for the info. As someone born and raised in LA, I never would've guessed this.
  - dublinclontarf 9y ago
    > ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles It's not about miles covered, it's about energy consumed. 100 miles on the freeway would use the same amount of fuel as 30 miles in the city with traffic.

unit91 9y ago

Plus we Texans "all" own V-8 pickup trucks.

msisk6 9y ago
Nah, only the city folks. Us country bumpkins have straight 6 diesels.
dublinclontarf 9y ago
Whats wrong with a V-6?

ouid 9y ago

poor city planning and urban sprawl contribute far more to fuel consumption than low gas prices. See Los Angeles.

singlow 9y ago
But low gas prices are a cause of sprawl. If gas was more expensive it would change the economics of commuting.
- dublinclontarf 9y ago
  No it wouldn't. Gas is about 2x as expensive in the UK. I work in London but commute (by motorcycle) from the next county. Plenty of people commute by car even though it's considerably more expensive.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
tomjakubowski 9y ago
> See Los Angeles. See what? Los Angeles -- whether you slice by city, county, metropolitan statistical area, or combined statistical area -- ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles in the United States. In fact, the Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area has the second-lowest household fuel consumption in the country, just behind New York-Newark (at least according to a poorly-sourced Forbes article [1]). Unfortunately, publicly available fuel consumption data split by city/county/Census area is much harder to find. But what I have found suggests that Forbes's ranking of Los Angeles relative to other US metro areas is probably accurate. The National Household Travel Survey [2] is likely the best source of raw data for investigating this question. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/05/10/americas-biggest-and-least-gas-guzzling-cities/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/05/10/am... [2]: https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/national_household_travel_survey/index.html https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/su...
- wutbrodo 9y ago
  > Los Angeles -- whether you slice by city, county, metropolitan statistical area, or combined statistical area -- ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles in the United States. In fact, the Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area has the second-lowest household fuel consumption in the country, just behind New York-Newark (at least according to a poorly-sourced Forbes article [1]). Wow, thanks for the info. As someone born and raised in LA, I never would've guessed this.
- dublinclontarf 9y ago
  > ranks nowhere near the top of per capita household vehicle miles It's not about miles covered, it's about energy consumed. 100 miles on the freeway would use the same amount of fuel as 30 miles in the city with traffic.