Our Air Each gallon of gas burned releases 22 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In a year, the average car emits five tons of carbon dioxide into the air. With over 120 million automobiles in the United States, automobile emissions account for 33 percent of all carbon dioxide and 45 percent of all nitrous oxide released into the sky, making the car the single largest contributor to global warming. The automobile is also responsible for 60 percent of the total air pollution in most U.S. cities. Cars emit 69 percent of all the lead, 70 percent of the carbon monoxide and are responsible for 60 percent of the ground ozone. Half of all automobile trips in the United States are under three miles, a distance that could be waked in less than one hour at no appreciable cost to the environment or pocketbook. Air pollution costs the US as much as $40 billion annually in health care and lost economic productivity. (Worldwatch State of the World Report) Lighting accounts for 25 percent of North American electricity use. Substituting a fluorescent light for a traditional bulb can keep a half ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over the duration of the lightbulb's lifespan. New York gets 99% of its transportation energy--and half its air pollution--from petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. --Clean powered Cars of Future on Display Today, by Corydon Ireland--Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.