Viability of Preventing Environmental Pollution by Banning Automobiles (Essay Sample)

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Should All Automobiles be banned to Reduce Pollution?
With the threat of global warming, climate change and related natural disasters like flooding becoming more serious in the 21st century, it is necessary that national government take drastic measure to curb environmental pollution. Banning all automobiles, however, is unpractical it will ruin national economies by halting the movement of people, raw materials, and finished products.
Banning all automobiles would undoubtedly minimize pollution by reducing the amount of exhaust fumes released into the atmosphere. Such a policy, however, is unpractical. Land transport is responsible for the movement of over 80 percent of traffic passengers and 70 percent of freight traffic (Henderson-Sellers and McGuffie 351). In North America, trucks carry 80 percent of all cargo that passes through Mexico, the U.S., and Canada (Carbaugh 4). The implication of these statistics is that banning all automobiles will result in over 80 percent of workers not getting to their places of work, and 70 percent of raw materials and goods not getting to their destinations. As a result, business activities will come to a complete halt due to lost labor and businesses finding it impossible to transport raw materials to industries and haul finished products to the market.
The ideal solution to the problem of pollution is minimizing carbon gas emissions by promoting public transport and clean sources of energy. Governments can promote public transport through tax incentives to employers who provide free transport for workers. This could encourage people to use company transport, thereby reducing the number of vehicles on the roads. Additionally, investing new technologies can help to invent hybrid vehicles that run on solar energy, and reduce the levels of vehicular carbon emissions.
In conclusion, environmental pollution is a serious problem that can lead to climate change and trigger natural calamities. Banning all automobiles to reduce pollution is inappropriate because it will result in economic stagnation by hindering the movement of people to work, raw materi...