New Scientist reports work by economists Chris Knittel at UC Davis and Kenneth Small at UC Irvine, who are both predicting that rising fuel prices will make Americans buy smaller cars, drive less and therefore pump less carbon into the atmosphere.

Knittel surveyed truck and SUV sales and found that sales of the biggest SUVs dropped by as much as 25 percent for each $1 increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline, while sales of compacts and hybrids rose. Such changes in buying habits could cut the amount of gasoline used by US drivers by around 7 per cent for every $1 increase in its price, Knittel estimates. Small calculates that the recent doubling of fuel prices should reduce road mileage driven by 4 percent.

Less driving and more efficient cars could lead to a significant cut in U.S. carbon emissions, the economists say.

Full article from New Scientist (subscription required).