For moguls or celebrities, however, the rare commodity of a Manhattan parking space inside their building, with a curb cut at the street, is a huge status symbol and selling point.

Having enacted policies to curb fuel consumption for decades — and suffered long-running deflation in Japan's case — they have little fat left to cut.

Many states have already adopted measures to cut reliance on oil for cars, use alternative energy sources to generate electricity, and curb emissions of greenhouse gases.