Gas-gobbling for the holiday

Hitting the highway to get to friends and family this week? If so, how much gas do you expect to use? Do you have a gas guzzler....or, in the spirit of the holiday, a gas gobbler?

A study by the advocacy group, Environment America, has concluded that 39 million U.S. residents will take trips of at least 50 miles this Thanksgiving, and they're expected to spend $418 million at the gas pump.

The group has been championing a new auto mileage standard, calling for an average of 60 miles per gallon, which they say is technologically possible. The current average is 26.4 miles per gallon.

So they did the math, and they concluded that Americans could save $234 million at the pump and cut gasoline consumption by 80 million gallons -- more than five times the amount of oil the U.S. imported from Saudi Arabia last year, they say -- if the nation were to reach the 60 mpg figure.

The average family would save $12.10, which they say is enough to buy three extra pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

Since I'll be home cooking this year, I don't have to worry about my mileage. But the pies, I could use.