Climate change is occurring whether politicians, oil companies, car manufacturers, scientists and the public admit it or not. There is scientific proof that the global surface temperature is rising, the sea level is rising, the Northern Hemisphere snow cover is retreating, the glacier volume is shrinking and the climate extremes are increasing (Global Climate Change Indicators). The cause of these rapidly occurring changes is the rise in greenhouse gases and a contributing factor to these rising greenhouse gases is the emissions given out by cars.
The reason climate change is a bigger problem now than ever before is because of the dependency the United States has on oil. The US dependency on oil threatens our national security, economy and especially our environment. For example, the United States burns about “400 million gallons of gasoline every day, releasing 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per gallon, over 7.2 billion pounds of carbon daily” (U.S. Oil Dependence Threatens Security, Economy, Environment: New Joint Report Shows the Problems with and Solutions to U.S. Oil Addiction). This is because driving involves the combustion of fossil fuels, a process that emits gasses which in the long run contribute to the increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the controversial climate change (King). Thus, it is apparent that cars fueled by petroleum have a very large impact on the environment.
In order to help deter the effects of the greenhouse gases on the climate and environment, a new policy that will be provided by the EPA under the Clean Air Act needs to be put into place. This new policy should mandate that by 2020 all vehicles will transition to being hybrids and eventually by 2040, using...
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"Ending Our Dependence on Oil." Oil Dependence Facts. Sierra Club, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
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Wilson, Janet. "U.S. Emits Half of Car-Caused Greenhouse Gas, Study Says." U.S. Emits Half of Car-Caused Greenhouse Gas, Study Says. Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2006. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Increasing environmental awareness, coupled with a responsible American government and improved technology, have all contributed to the comeback of low-and zero-emissions vehicles in the US. It remains to be seen whether the automakers and oil companies will once again work to halt this progress, or embrace it as the technology of a more responsible future.
15. New Report: Reducing Vehicular Global Warming Pollution Saves California Drivers Money, 2004, Union of Concerned Scientists, 11 May 2004, <http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm?newsID=391>
The topic of global warming has been looming over our guilty shoulders since the early 1900’s. Transportation is the top contributor of greenhouse gas emissions which forms a barrier in the ozone, trapping in heat and heating our planet to unforeseen temperatures, much like a greenhouse. Over 225 billion gallons of gasoline is burned for transportation in the United States alone (CNN 2013.) All the harmful emissions from vehicles are starting to add up and scientists are watching the ice caps...
In order to first convince a wide majority of people that something needs to be done to stop the destruction of our environment, people first need to know exactly what is harmful about gasoline vehicles. In the United States, approximately 6.6 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted per person every year. Most of the greenhouse gas emi...
Did you know that you can receive a maximum of a $7,500 tax credit for just owning an electric or hybrid vehicle? The United States government values citizens that buy fuel efficient vehicles because it gets the United States one step closer to not buying outsourced oil (Jones par.14). Hybrid vehicles are vehicles that are mostly powered by gasoline, but switch over to electric at stop signs or at coasting speeds. Electric cars are cars that are solely powered by electric from start up to shut down (Motavalli par. 6). Most cars and trucks on the road today are powered by gasoline or diesel engines, which are expensive to operate, bad for the environment, and use resources that are non renewable. To achieve better fuel economy, lower operation cost, reduce the pollution on the environment, and operate vehicles with renewable resources, this world needs to take a better look at using alternative fuels to power vehicles. Alternative fuels for motor vehicles are better for the environment, are renewable resource, and are cheaper for consumers.
According to Brinson, “Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared cars "mobile sources" of pollution, they aren’t the only culprits. Big trucks, bulldozers, ships and boats, trains and even snow-blower 's pollute the air. According to the EPA, motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the U.S. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) estimates that on-road vehicles cause one-third of the air pollution that produces smog in the U.S., and transportation causes 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. has 30 percent of the world 's automobiles, yet it contributes about half of the world 's emissions from cars.” The United States has began imposing strict regulations on automotive
Depends on Where You Plug In”, Paul Stenquist (2012) illustrates that electric cars can release greenhouse gases or can not because it depends on how the electricity that is used to recharge the cars was generated from. According to Stenquist (2012) if the electric cars are recharged by the electricity that is generated from renewable energy like nuclear and solar power, the cars would have zero for carbon footprint. Also the electricity that is generated from natural gas that would produce carbon less than coal. Carbon footprint is the total amount of gas carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases, that the cars release or spend. The author also gives an example to show how charging electric cars at Denver and California are different in amount of carbon footprints. Reports from EPA and U.C.S. are used by Stenquist (2012) to support that the carbon footprints that the cars made are different depend on the sources of electricity that recharge the cars. However, the chief excusive of Nissan at that time declared that it does not matter what is the electricity that recharge the cars generated from, electric cars are still better in the way that can reduce emission than the best of gasoline car model can
With a gasoline-fueled vehicle, buying gas to operate your car is a never-ending process. With the high price change of gasoline and oil, operating a gasoline-fueled vehicle tends to be very costly. While there are some types of small gasoline vehicles that get much better gas mileage than larger vehicles, even the most powerful gasoline cars will normally desire a contribution every month. According to some experts the only way a mainstream market for green vehicles wills materlize is with a pronounced and prolonged rise in fuel prices. (Buss, 4)
Electricity production is one of the factors contributing to climate change this is responsible for more than 25% of CO2 emissions. The modern car accounts for about 20% of fossil fuel released in the
...al combustion vehicle emissions. Sustainable practices, technology, collaborations are producing a new breed of vehicles aiming for a greener future for the world. These efficient vehicles seek to forge a green future.
There is an estimate of 1.3 million cars in the world, in the United States alone the ration from person to cars is 1.3. That 's almost 255 million cars in the roads every single day. Just imagine, “Burning one gallon of gas creates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and the average car emits about six tons of carbon dioxide every year”(Global Warming And Your Car).Imagine how many tons of Carbon dioxide are emitted into the air by everyone in the world. The carbon that gets emitted into the air doesn 't just affect the climate it also affects us by polluting the very air that we breath. Air pollution causes around 3.3 million deaths worldwide every year. One of the biggest places with contamination is China, the main reason for that is because of all of the factories that they have and all the carbon dioxide that gets let out.People and their decisions are the main reason for climate change, they only think about the present and never about the
Today, people use their own personal vehicles to travel more than ever before. Personal transportation is no longer considered a luxury; it is now considered a necessity. The number of cars in the United States has been growing steadily since the 1970s. The number of miles traveled by cars has risen nearly 150 percent, yet the United States population has only grown roughly 40 percent during that time (hybridcars.com, Driving Trends). Although it may seem like we are advancing into the future, in reality, we are moving backwards from the effects these vehicles have on our bodies and the environment. The pollution produced by these vehicles has brought us to the day where we must find other modes of transportation that cause less harm to the world in which we live. Advances in technology have developed hybrid vehicles to try and slow down the amount of pollution. Driving a hybrid vehicle, instead of a conventional gas powered vehicle, can reduce the amount of pollution that affects our lives and the environment around us.
Climate change has been one of the most discussed issues in these modern days. It is prove on many researches that the increase in man-made green house gas emission can significantly affect the climate in the world, on every part of the globe. In the last few years, climate change has become the most researched subject in science. The reason is that because climate change can affect significantly to the earth and it has to be taken care of. In a business world, particularly in Automotive Industry, climate change is also one of the must discussed subject, and because of automobile is one of the factors that produce the most CO2 (Carbon dioxide), it become one issue that force automotive industry to change their product to reduce the amount of CO2 emission.
The introduction of more commercially available diesel and fully electric vehicles has started to impact the sales figures of hybrids which is surprising to me because of the natural deficiencies that the hybrid vehicle has to overcome to be more effective both in environmental savings and cost savings to the end user. I believe that some combustion automobiles offer equal if not greater environmental and cost savings over hybrid vehicles. I believe this because the manufacturing and disposal process for batteries is very damaging to the earth, and the longevity of the parts is less than that of a normal vehicle. Also, if measuring environmental impact by comparing fuel consumption, many diesel cars are able to achieve greater miles per gallon than similar hybrid vehicles.
The burning of fossil fuels has greatly harmed our environment and is a leading cause as to why climate change has become such a threat to our way of living. In May of 2013, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million, an increase of more than 40 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This could cause the Arctic Ocean to be nearly ice-free during the summer by 2020(Overland and Wang, 2013).