I like to write about California and how environmentally-minded the state is from time to time (I’ll spare you any hyperlinks as proof) for the purely selfish reason that I am a Californian and have pride in my state.  I’m also one of those jerks that sometimes likes to remind people that California’s economy, on its own, is one of the top ten in the world.  Basically, I’m obnoxious in this regard.

However, scanning treehugger.com today, I got to an article in Wired that ought to shame me a little bit.  Sure, California is the third-largest state by area and first by population, but California also is the second-largest user of gasoline in the whole world.

More than China.  More than India.  California’s second in the world only to, obviously, the United States as a whole. Wired does note, though,

“China’s oil thirst is growing — to almost 20 billion gallons in 2007 — and perhaps as early as this year, China’s 1.3 billion people will overtake California’s 37 million people in total gasoline and diesel usage.”

But check out those population numbers.  1.3 billion is, I’m pretty sure, way more than 37 million.  And if we were to rank countries by population, California would fall around 32nd, between Argentina and Sudan.

I was going to recommend you takepart here to see what California is doing about going green to maybe reverse the trends of oil consumption, but that site actually seems not to have a whole lot of information.  Figures.  Instead, keeping with the California theme, you can takepart here to learn how to Flex Your Power, saving energy at home and at the office.