Gasoline prices may seem high in Colorado, but the state’s drivers spend only about 3.43 percent of their income on gas, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, making us only the 42nd “most vulnerable” to oil dependence.
And that old joke about state rankings, “thank god for Mississippi,” holds true. That state’s drivers spend a high of 6.34 percent of their income on gasoline, ranking them first on NRDC’s vulnerability list.The conservation group issued a report, “Addicted to Oil: Ranking States’ Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change,” which attempts to show which states are most reliant on oil and which ones are doing the most to wean themselves.
Colorado comes out pretty good in the “solutions” ranking on the NRDC report, at 15th. We get props for hybrid tax incentives, biofuels refueling station tax credits and a fairly high priority for transit investment. California comes out on top of the solutions rank.
The states doing the most to wean themselves from oil use, according to NRDC, are:
1. California
2. Washington
3. New Jersey
4. Rhode Island
5. Oregon
6. Maine
7. New York
8. Maryland
9. Connecticut
10. Massachusetts
And those doing the least are:
1. Wyoming
2. West Virginia
3. Mississippi
4. South Dakota
5. Nebraska
6. New Hampshire
7. Kentucky
8. Alabama
9. Texas
10. Ohio
