Is NASCAR really that bad for the environment?

When you see a car doing dozens of laps at close to 200 mph (322 kph), it becomes pretty obvious that aside from the internal-combustion thing going on under the hood, a race car has little in common with the cars we drive to work. But there are more differences than meet the eye.

First, all that power means the gas in the tank doesn't go far. While many commuters grumble if their car gets less than 20 miles per gallon fuel efficiency, and some cars out there get 50 mpg, 5 miles per gallon is standard for a NASCAR car. Also, the devices that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated on normal cars to keep emissions to a safe level, like catalytic converters, are not built into race cars. NASCAR race cars are only regulated by NASCAR.

This all adds up to some serious fuel consumption. In a single typical NASCAR race weekend, with more than 40 cars at high speeds for 500 miles (804 kilometers) -- plus practice laps -- at 5 mpg of gas, you're looking at, conservatively, about 6,000 gallons (22,712 liters) of fuel [source: Finney]. Each gallon burned emits about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of carbon dioxide, so that's about 120,000 pounds (54,431 kilograms) of CO₂ for a race weekend [source: FuelEconomy]. Multiply that by roughly 35 races per year, and NASCAR's annual carbon footprint is in the area of 4 million pounds (1.8 million kilograms).

Yes, that's a lot. The energy expended in one race could power more than three houses or drive seven cars for a whole year [source: Shelby]. But is it a lot in the grand scheme of things?

It depends on how you look at it. That 6,000 gallons (22,712 liters) of gas over two days starts to look somewhat reasonable when you consider that the United States eats up about 400 million gallons (1.5 billion liters) per day, any old day of the year [source: Finney]. And 4 million pounds a year doesn't seem like much compared to the world's 6 billion tons (5.4 billion metric tons) of CO₂ emissions every year, or the 1 million tons (907,184 metric tons) emitted for the one day of the 2005 Super Bowl [source: Fulton].

But it's an extravagantly high number next to the 45,000 pounds (20,411 kilograms) of CO₂ the average American life emits in a whole year.

So where does that leave us? With a sport that, while it may not be single-handedly sending the human race into a warm extinction, could definitely use some greening up. And change is actually not that far off.

Even NASCAR realizes it's an atmospheric burden. The big news is, the organization (or at least its sponsors) are starting to care.

Contrary to popular belief, car racing as a whole is not insensitive to environmental concerns. Other racing associations, such as Formula One and Indy, have already taken some pretty giant steps toward reducing their effects on the environment. Formula One is in the midst of a 10-year ban on engine development instituted to push teams into developing green racing technology instead [source: Eaton]. And Indy race cars now run on 100 percent ethanol fuel [source: Fulton], a corn-based, renewable energy. Sure, those cars get about 2 mpg, but it's a lower-emitting 2 mpg.

NASCAR has been behind the curve for years in this regard. In fact, until 2007, NASCAR cars were running on leaded gas, which emits toxic lead into the air and has been out of most people's gas tanks since the '80s [source: Fulton]. The organization has simply left environmental issues off its agenda -- until now.

Perhaps in response to genuine concern over its status as a major emitter, or perhaps because public opinion has begun to take issue with such rampant gas guzzling when global warming is a looming threat, NASCAR is trying to green up its image. It recently partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a program to promote high-MPG vehicles at NASCAR races. Not on the track -- the eco-friendly production cars are displayed at the fairgrounds to attract NASCAR fans to the idea of lowering fuel consumption in their daily lives. But still, it's a start.

NASCAR teams themselves are making the bigger (if mostly symbolic contribution). The Hall of Fame racing team has committed to purchase carbon credits to offset all of the carbon it emits for 18 races of the 2009 season. That includes travel, practice and racing emissions. And NASCAR driver Leilani Munter buys an acre of rainforest to offset each of her races.

As is the case when anyone buys carbon credits to offset nonrenewable energy use, whether this NASCAR trend actually decreases environmental impact is up for debate. But at least as far as raising awareness goes, it's a promising first step toward making NASCAR a slightly less destructive force. If actual technology changes follow, NASCAR might very well get pushed back on the list of environmentally nightmarish sports.

For more information on NASCAR, global warming and related topics, look over the links on the next page.