In the US per person consumption of gasoline is 428 gallons per year on average, while in Europe is 59 gallons. Yes, the average US citizen uses 6.2 times more gasoline per person per year than does the average European resident.
The US uses 9.989 million barrels of oil per day to make gasoline (keep in mind that though a barrel contains 42 gallons of crude oil, it doesn't all go to gasoline). If we just reduced our gasoline consumption to five times that of Europe we'd knock 1.8 million barrels of oil off our daily habit.
How much oil comes from all the offshore oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico? 1.75 million barrels.
By reducing gasoline consumption by 20% we can never drill in the Gulf again. That breaks down to reducing your daily driving average by 5.4 miles.
So, could it be done? The average person was driving less last summer when gas prices were reaching all time highs...but would the average person drive less to prevent potential disasters like the current Gulf spill?
http://blog.nature.org/2010/05/gulf-...+Green+Science)