It is responsible for a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions - an average of 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide is released by each US citizen every year - the highest of any country in the world, and more than China, India and Japan combined

Americans use 50 million tons of paper annually - consuming more than 850 million trees

There are more than 200 million cars and light trucks on american roads

According to the Federal Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of petrol a day

Motor vehicles account for 56 per cent of all air pollution in The United States

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 concluded that people living in the most heavily polluted metropolitan areas have a 12 per cent increased risk of dying of lung cancer than people in the least polluted areas

32 of the 50 busiest US airports currently have plans to expand operations

Every year US industries release at least 2.4 billion pounds of chemicals into the atmosphere

Despite having just 2 per cent of known oil reserves, the US consumes 25 per cent of the world's oil production

16 per cent of world oil production goes into american cars alone.

Approximately 160 million people living in 32 US states live in regions with smog and soot levels considered dangerous to health

The new clear air interstate rule aims to cut sulphur dioxide by 73 per cent and nitrogen oxide by 61 per cent in the next 10 years

Around 50 million new cars roll off US assembly lines each year

There are already more than 20 million four-wheel-drive vehicles on US roads

More than 1.5 million gallons of oil were spilled into US waters in 2000 alone

Only 1 per cent of american travel is on public transport, an eighth of that in the UK and an eighteenth of that in Japan

As much as 5.99 tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted per American per year, compared with 0.31 tonnes per Indian or 0.05 tonnes per Bangladeshi.

The US had 16 major oil spills between 1976 and 1989, whereas France suffered six and the UK five

The average american produces 864kg of municipal waste per year, almost three times the quantity of rubbish produced annually by an Italian