Environmental Issues

The invention of motor vehicles can be considered as one the most important inventions in the world. Cars have changed the world in different aspects and more important in economic development. Socially, cars have had the automobile effects as people became more consumed in traveling culture. America has been considered as a nation on the move as people keep on moving from one place to another in search of brighter economic fortunes. This could not have been possible if there were no cars. Therefore, apart from creating social concept of auto mobility that came with development of the automotive industry, cars have been valuable for economic growth, and hence they are part and parcel of our life. However, they have come with negative effects on the social, environmental, and economic life of people. Cars have been responsible for global warming, rising oil prices, accidents due to compromised safety and others. Since they are a part and parcel of our life, cars should therefore be more efficient.

Cars Should Be More Efficient
Cars are important part of our life. They help us to move from one place to another. They assist in moving goods from one place to another and hence are vital for economic growth and development (Cornelis and Hilton, 2002).  Without cars, the worlds economy would crumble as transport is at the heart of economic growth. Like many things in life, cars have positive and negative impact and most of the time people have tended to look at the positive impacts neglecting the negative ones.  It is important to address the negative impacts in order to make cars more efficient.

One of the negative effects of cars has been their impact on the environment. Cars have been shown to increase emission of green house gases which prompt global warming with adverse effects on world climate (Povey, 2006). Cars use fossil fuels which, when combusted, release green house gases like carbons, nitrates, and others. In order to reduce the negative impact of cars on the environment, it is important to develop cars which use alternate rather than fossil fuel.  There are developments on the way to develop fuel cell and electric cars which do not use fossil fuel and therefore reduce adverse effects on the environment.

The development of auto industry came along in line with development of the oil industry. Historical accounts show how the automotive industry collaborated with oil industry to kill efforts to develop cars which did not use fossil fuel. More recently, it has been killing electric vehicles that have been confirmed running and friendly to the environment. Reliance on fossil fuel and connection between oil and automotive industry has had negative effects on the world economy (Tom, 2007). Oil producing cartels have been raising oil prices absurdly since they know cars cannot run without fuel. If there is development of cars which does not rely on fossil fuel, perhaps it would be possible to control the world oil prices.  This would also have positive impact on the environment as it would reduce the reliance on fossil fuel.

Another catastrophic effect of cars has been safety failure. Millions of lives have been lost through car accidents. Important people in the world like Princes Diana and others have lost lives in road accidents. Although safety was one of the most important aspects that were considered in the earlier phase of development of cars, it has been greatly compromised owing to different factors (Povey, 2006).  In terms of safety, cars are perhaps considered inferior compared to other modes of transport like airplanes, trains, ships, and others.  Although there has been recent development like inclusion of air bags in cars, this has not reduced road carnages and loss of life.  There is more that has to be done on improvement of safety aspect of cars. The industry has to develop more efficient safety measures to ensure that people feel safe while traveling in cars.

Although there has been development of cheaper cars in the recent past, cost of cars remains a hindrance factor for most people to own them. There are many people in the world, especially in the developing countries who cannot afford cars due to higher cost.  At the same time, the cost of development of fuel efficient cars is another factor that continues to inhibit development of environmental friendly cars. The cost factor has an impact on environmental issues since most people are likely to choose cheaper cars which may not be environmental friendly (Povey, 2006).

The development of cars was an important step in the world as it enabled people to travel from one place to another. It also had a positive impact on the economy as it enabled transportation of goods and services from one place to another. However, cars have a number of negative effects. They have been shown to increase emission of green house gases that have led to global warming effect. Cars have also led to an increase in oil prices which hurts the worlds economy, especially in poor countries. Due to failure of safety measures, cars have led to loss of millions of lives through road accidents.  The high cost of cars is another negative effect of them as not many people can afford cars and especially fuel efficient cars which are currently being sold at exorbitant prices.