I believe that hybrid cars can reduce the output of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, if made properly, but I also believe that they are not the final answer to all the global warming problems related to automobiles. The problem with hybrid cars today is that the auto makers gear them towards horsepower and not gas efficiency. This seems ludicrous as the talk about the need to reduce carbon emissions has never been higher (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0808_050808_hybrid_cars.html). In fact gas efficiency in 2005 was 1.3 miles per gallon lower than gas efficiency in 1987, mostly contributing to the increase in bigger vehicles like pick-ups and SUVs (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/AFDB2D1A-F8F5-44EF-A967-14BAEBD033DF/0/FutureVisionsPaper.pdf). To combat this problem, there needs to be a car that emits no carbon dioxide such as a solar or hydrogen powered car. Also, to reduce carbon emissions, there need to be fewer cars on the road and more public transportation.
The problem with hybrid cars and really with global warming is that the car companies and the US are only after profit. The US is still reluctant to go away from oil because of the money they attain from it, even though that profit is decreasing because of lower oil supplies around the world. The car companies want to gear hybrids towards marketing and saleability and not environmental friendliness. By doing the aforementioned, they increase horsepower and decrease gas mileage. The difference in gas mileage from an Honda Accord hybrid and a gas-only Accord is two miles per gallon and in addition,the gas powered Toyota Corolla is more fuel efficient than the Accord Hybrid, something that is not expected when hearing that a certain car is hybrid. The people who believe that hybrids are the answer to global warming are wrong because hybrids only get marginally better mileage and there are other sources of carbon emissions such as power plants that also emit greenhouse gases on the level of cars. The truth is hybrids can be made to have far more gas mileage than currently are and but for that to happen something needs to be done. The price on a hybrid is thousands of dollars more than that of a gas-only model of the same car and those dollars should get a vehicle that reduces carbon emissions greatly, not marginally, to help slow down global warming (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0808_050808_hybrid_cars.html).
The carbon output of a gallon of gas is 19.4 pounds, of which millions are used per day, (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/420f05001.htm) and the output of carbon dioxide from transport vehicles rose 25% between 1990 and 2006 (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/05/eia_us_co2_emis.html). This shows that something needs to be done about the rise through things such as public transportation and a new, "clean" source of fuel. If something is not done, the effects of global warming could become more severe as the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will get higher and higher.
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6 comments:
I believe that only by people letting go of selfish desires that global warming can be slowed down; global warming is like cigarettes- you don't know how much damage its caused until its too late. What we, as a human race, need to do is increase awareness and rally the government to pro-actively engage in this problem by imposing certain laws that will help decrease the amount of emissions.
response to comment:
I agree that people have to give up their selfish desires like expensive, gas-guzzling super cars and exotic foods that have to travel thousands of miles in order to cut down carbon emissions enough to halt global warming. People need to stop being wasteful because they never think about how much impact leaving the TV on for one hour without anyone watching it has on the Earth. If certain laws were enacted by our government the amount of emissions would definitely change but our government is also at fault as it wants more and more oil and is even willing to fight for it.
Because U.S. car companies are after profit, they must take into consideration consumer demands. As gas prices increase, people are more reluctant to drive a lot and prefer more economical cars. Sales in SUVs have decreased in response to the escalating gas prices. If car companies want to make large profits they much cater to the publics needs. Hybrid cars are a good way to reduce carbon emissions however they are pricy. People are less inclined to buy them because of the high cost. Car companies need to figure out a way to reduce costs of these “cleaner cars” so Americans feel prone to buy them.
People are addicted to oil. If no laws enforce lowering carbon emissions nothing will be done to alleviate the problem. The fact of the matter is that laziness is a part of human nature. We don’t feel the need to act until the consequences of our action are thrown into our face. In other words, until the American public sees a direct cause of their abuse of oil they won’t feel compelled to do anything about it. The government should do a better job of publicizing global warming issues. Our future and our children’s children future are in our hands. Solar power and wind power should be implemented more often in federal businesses to serve as an example. More money should be spent on public transportation. We as citizens can do our part by carpooling, walking or riding a bike.
Are there any other causes of global warming besides carbon emissions?
Response to Brooke:
What I am saying is why cannot car companies stop going after money and try to be good to the environment. They should start making hybrid cars that get double the gas mileage of their conventional counterparts. If I was to buy a hybrid that got only two miles of gas per gallon better than the gas model but cost thousands of dollars more, I would choose the gas model. That is the problem with hybrids because they are geared towards performance. For example, the 0-35 acceleration of a hybrid car is better than a gas car. This should not be happening because when people buy hybrids, they look to help the environment and try to save money in the long run. The thing about lowering carbon emissions is that people have to make sacrifices for the better of the Earth and they will start doing that when they see the government switching to cleaner energy.
Carbon emissions along with other greenhouse gases (methane,nitrous oxide, fluorocarbons and water vapor) could be the only source of global warming but other people say that carbon has no effect on the warming and the warming is part of the natural cycle of the Earth.
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