the car is freedom on wheels and we have
embraced it more than any other country
on earth
but have you ever begun to realize what
its real impact is
cars are complicated machines requiring
natural resources and high technology to
manufacture take a typical Ford for
example the expedition is assembled in
Wayne Michigan the edge in Ontario
Canada and the Ford Fusion in Sonora
Mexico but to see the real extent of the
environmental footprint we have to see
where all the parts of a typical Ford
come from consider the body it is made
from iron steel aluminum and other
metals a wide range of synthetic
plastics fibers and phones
paints and coatings glass and rubber
the materials we can’t see include toxic
solvents such as toluene minerals such
as nickel and sulphur and the fuels for
electricity and production also come
from around the world
so we’ve took apart a typical Ford to
see where all the parts came from the
plastics come from Canada the driveshaft
axle and chassis comes from Toledo Ohio
the brake steering and suspension
systems come from Livonia Michigan the
battery and interior systems come from
Milwaukee Wisconsin and the aluminum
wheels come from Van Nuys California the
windshield comes from Pittsburg
Pennsylvania so far parts from all over
the United States and Canada and we
still have miles to go and with a modern
car made from thousands of components
its footprint is truly global the seat
belts and airbags come from Sweden the
zinc metals chemicals and catalysts come
from Belgium and the anti-lock braking
fuel injection systems door and seat
components all come from Germany the
tires are from South Korea the stereo
and wiring are from Japan and China and
there are aluminum parts from Thailand
and that’s not taking into account all
the raw materials like manganese iron
ore and rubber all before we’ve driven a
single mile
but that’s not the end of it because in
our lives we don’t just own one car we
each own an average of 12 cars in our
lifetime and the 200 million cars in the
United States who will be replaced
roughly every 17 years but it’s winter
cars are fueled that they really make an
impact Americans use a quarter of the
world’s oil and it takes half of that to
fuel all of our cars that amounts to ten
and a half million barrels of oil every
day we each drive an average of eleven
thousand miles a year that’s six hundred
twenty seven thousand miles over a
lifetime or twenty five times around the
world and on that journey will use
thirty one thousand three hundred fifty
gallons of gasoline or enough to fill
these three fuel tankers it’s difficult
to imagine but the invisible gas pumped
out of the family car creates nearly six
tons of carbon emissions a year over a
driving lifetime this adds up to 360
tons each
imagine all the cars in your
neighborhood and then in your town
expand that to a big city and then the
whole country and the traffic never
stops day after day after day
embraced it more than any other country
on earth
but have you ever begun to realize what
its real impact is
cars are complicated machines requiring
natural resources and high technology to
manufacture take a typical Ford for
example the expedition is assembled in
Wayne Michigan the edge in Ontario
Canada and the Ford Fusion in Sonora
Mexico but to see the real extent of the
environmental footprint we have to see
where all the parts of a typical Ford
come from consider the body it is made
from iron steel aluminum and other
metals a wide range of synthetic
plastics fibers and phones
paints and coatings glass and rubber
the materials we can’t see include toxic
solvents such as toluene minerals such
as nickel and sulphur and the fuels for
electricity and production also come
from around the world
so we’ve took apart a typical Ford to
see where all the parts came from the
plastics come from Canada the driveshaft
axle and chassis comes from Toledo Ohio
the brake steering and suspension
systems come from Livonia Michigan the
battery and interior systems come from
Milwaukee Wisconsin and the aluminum
wheels come from Van Nuys California the
windshield comes from Pittsburg
Pennsylvania so far parts from all over
the United States and Canada and we
still have miles to go and with a modern
car made from thousands of components
its footprint is truly global the seat
belts and airbags come from Sweden the
zinc metals chemicals and catalysts come
from Belgium and the anti-lock braking
fuel injection systems door and seat
components all come from Germany the
tires are from South Korea the stereo
and wiring are from Japan and China and
there are aluminum parts from Thailand
and that’s not taking into account all
the raw materials like manganese iron
ore and rubber all before we’ve driven a
single mile
but that’s not the end of it because in
our lives we don’t just own one car we
each own an average of 12 cars in our
lifetime and the 200 million cars in the
United States who will be replaced
roughly every 17 years but it’s winter
cars are fueled that they really make an
impact Americans use a quarter of the
world’s oil and it takes half of that to
fuel all of our cars that amounts to ten
and a half million barrels of oil every
day we each drive an average of eleven
thousand miles a year that’s six hundred
twenty seven thousand miles over a
lifetime or twenty five times around the
world and on that journey will use
thirty one thousand three hundred fifty
gallons of gasoline or enough to fill
these three fuel tankers it’s difficult
to imagine but the invisible gas pumped
out of the family car creates nearly six
tons of carbon emissions a year over a
driving lifetime this adds up to 360
tons each
imagine all the cars in your
neighborhood and then in your town
expand that to a big city and then the
whole country and the traffic never
stops day after day after day
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