Gasoline demand in the U.S. has peaked, with a surprise slowdown last year signaling that consumption is unlikely to ever again return to pre-COVID levels.
This long-awaited milestone shows that climate-friendly initiatives put into place more than a decade ago are finally taking the U.S. across the threshold. American drivers are traveling more miles on less fuel than ever thanks to a generation of cars with more efficient engines as well as new electric vehicles. The government forecasts further declines for gasoline demand this year and next.
What comes next is a two-track future: short-term pain, followed by decades of economic and environmental benefits.
In the next several years, the fuel industry is poised to cut supply faster than the drop in demand, with more plants due to shut or convert to…
