We Sure Do Spend A Lot on Gas

The Natural Resource Defense Council recently came out with a study ranking states according to their usage of oil and gas and Louisiana ranked #5 among the states that use the most oil and gas. The study also looked at how much of their income people are spending on oil and gas and it turns out Louisianians are spending over 7% of their income on gas. They found that rising gas prices, combined with the economic downturn, are making people more vulnerable to changes in oil prices and while some states are taking drastic steps to reduce oil dependence through smart clean-transportation policies Louisiana isn't one of them. Fast Company Magazine took it a step further and looked at that list of states and compared it to how they rank according to household income levels. They point out that the states that spend the most on oil and gas are among the poorest in the nation and tend to have lower than average household income levels. That Fast Company article can be see here and the ranking of household incomes by states can be found here.

Graphic: NRDC