Cleaner Alternative Transportation

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Recommended: Effects of fossil fuels on the environment

When people think pollution, most think straight to automobiles producing harmful emissions which contribute to global warming or climate change. Well, this is true. Motor vehicles account for about half of the toxic air pollutant emissions in the United States. A large part of these toxic air pollutants is the need to rely on oil as a fuel source. The fact that oil is still the main source of energy for things like automobiles, when there are other alternatives like electric vehicles, creates many problems within our society. The United States’ dependency on oil causes incidents like the Deepwater Horizon. The estimated amount of oil released stood at 4.9 million barrels and polluted the area significantly. We as a country need to cut down on our dependency on oil and a few steps in that direction include stepping away from fuel inefficient automobiles. Automobiles are one of the biggest contributing factors to the oil dependency of the United States, and they are also one of the largest pollution causes also. The pollution from automobiles became so bad that the United States had to pass the Clean Air Act in 1970 which forced a series of rules to reduce pollution from vehicle exhaust, refueling emissions and evaporating gasoline. The act had to be amended two more times in 1977 and 1990 to set more goals in addressing hazardous air pollutants. Even though the Clean Air Act helped control the pollution a bit, it still did not fix the underlying problem: the U.S.’s fixation on oil and gasoline vehicles. Due to high environmental pollution, we should move away from the traditional gasoline automobiles and instead look for greener alternatives like electric or hybrid vehicles and improved public transportation. Automobiles have bec... ... middle of paper ... ...Quality Selected Facts and Figures. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 2006. 5. Print. "Public Transportation Benefits." American Public Transportation Association. APTA, Web. 1 May 2014. . Rose, Lynne H. "Comparison of Hybrid vs. Normal Cars: Which Saves Money?" SF Gate. Demand Media. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. "The Environmental Benefits of Riding Public Transit." State of Delaware. Web. 1 May 2014. http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/dwhs/info/Pages/OzonePublicTrans.aspx "The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, Web. 1 May 2014. Westin, Jonas, and Per Kågeson. "Can High Speed Rail Offset its Embedded Emissions?" Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 17.1 (2012): 1-7. Academic Search Premier Web. 29 Apr. 2014

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