commercial transportation effects on environment
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Transportation Effects on Environment 1
Running head: TRANSPORTATION EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENT
Commercial Transportation and its Effects on the Environment
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Commercial Transportation and its Effects on the Environment
The journey of mans civilized development has made him so successful in
reigning over creation. However, mother nature cannot be controlled. Nature has its own
balance and man needs to comply with this order. Any upset in this natural balance can
affect not only man but the rest of the world.
Globalization or the economic trend wherein companies can offer their products
and services world-wide has put a strain on mans relationship with nature. The need for
nations to manufacture and distribute their products has been taking its toll on the
environment and destroying the balance. Globalization has forced some countries to
deplete their forests and implement synthetic methods in controlling crops and other
natural products. Technology has been ignorant of its ill effects and basic systems like
transportation has created detrimental situations that could lead to the destruction of the
earth itself.
Problems in the International Arena
Despite the many inventions and ideas that are being offered, the world still seems
to be at a stand still in helping heal the environment. Even with the knowledge that
global warming will strike all countries whether disciplined with their gas wastage or not,
national interests of several supreme countries like the United States are still looming
over the efforts being made to address the very urgent situation. Fears of an economic
downfall because of ecological awareness and protection have prevented countries from
cooperating with each other to ensure the life of mankind on earth.
Politicians and businesspeople, egged on by the media, consider the economy to
be the bottom line (Suzuki, 2003, p. 89). These people believe that it is the economy
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that ensures man of the many benefits of civilization like good health, education, security
and even ecological protection. The prevailing concept is that the economy is the primary
source of everything we need and that a bad economy will not be able to protect nature.
Ergo, only a strong economic is needed if a country wants to preserve its natural
resources. However, this is proven to be wrong because it is globalization that is actually
forcing smaller nations to destroy their own habitat. The notion of prioritizing the
economy to protect the environment is not realistic.
Realists say that the concept of global commons greatly affects the issue on the
environment. William Forster Lloyd, a mathematician, observed that the fate of a
common pasture shared among rational, utility-maximizing herdsmen is doomed as the
population begins to increase (Chow and Leong, 2006, p. 63). This theory, otherwise
called the tragedy of commons, can be applied to any resource that a community
shares. Each resource has a limit to its usage. If the resources capability is maximized to
the point of its full capacity, the tendency of its users will be to find even more ways in
utilizing the resource to take advantage of what is left before it is totally ruined. The best
interest of each individual always takes over what could be necessary to maintain the
resource for the betterment of the group. However, what the group usually fails to see is
that competing to get the last of the depleted resource inevitably makes the whole group
lose everything.
One of the main resources that of global concern is fossil fuel. This is petroleum
used for running cars and factories that bring life to national economies. The current level
of fossil fuel has been depleted to about a quarter or a half of what is recoverable on earth
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(cited in Greene & Shafer, 2003, p. 4). The tragedy of commons may be applied to this
case too if nations will not cooperate in finding solutions to the problem.
Globalization has brought about the tragedy of commons to many developing
nations. The move to become industrialized or to control debt to developed countries has
caused many countries to abuse their natural resources. The Philippines and Indonesia
have depleted many of their rain forests to produce wooden products for export. The
Middle East nations are at war for the protection of their oil resources. Indeed,
globalization seems to be a detriment to the improvement of mans life on earth instead
of being able to bridge the gap between different countries.
International businesses have become successful in their industries because of
their reliance on transportation systems that are moved by fossil fuel. Distribution of
products and services would not be possible without gasoline which empowers land, air
and even marine vessels.
Transportation has been one of mans most important priorities since the
prehistoric times. This has led him to the discovery of simple things like wheel barrows,
the complex automobile invented by Henry Ford and the great airplanes created by the
Wright brothers. Transportation is very important in the economic system of nations and
large international corporations because it is the primary way they can distribute their
goods and services. Workers also get to their offices and jobs through commercial and
private transportation vehicles. The only problem with this situation is mans over
reliance to the current transportation modes and systems that is harmful to the
environment because of it's by product which is global warming.
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Much of what drives an economy depends heavily on the usage of fossil fuel
which when burned for use as gasoline of many transportation modes being used today,
accounts for the problem of air pollution. Excessive greenhouse gases that pollute the
atmosphere cause global warming.
Although there are many people who are still ignorant about global warming, it is
already a pressing issue that has to be faced squarely for the sake of mankind.
Transportation may be a great cause for this dilemma but there are ways by which every
individual, government or group can help lessen the current pollution and replace it with
better practices or utilities that can even improve the economy further.
Transportation
Transportation is part of everyday life may it be urban or rural living. Man is a
social animal and has the need to go to different places to seek his basic needs.
Throughout history, man has been able to develop more and more ways by which he can
transport not only himself but also many other goods that are needed in a thriving
economy.
As can be seen on Figure 1, the United States alone used up 7 quadrillion British
Thermal Units (Btu) for transportation in the 1950s. Each Btu is equivalent to
1055.05585 joules. With the advent of industrialization, energy consumption for
transportation has dramatically risen to more than 25 million Btu in the year 2000. The
motivation for companies and corporations to market their goods overseas, the ability of
smaller families to avail of private cars for each individual member and understudied
transportation systems have encouraged the rate increase of transportation utilization. So
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has its byproduct, carbon dioxide, which is considered one of the most notorious gases
for causing global warming or the green house effect.
Global warming or the greenhouse effect has been a recurring environmental
issue that has never been solved enough despite the talk it has been getting. This
abnormal climate situation is so-called because green house gases like carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide and methane act on the earths atmosphere in such a way that increases the
warm temperature of the globe. In winter, most plants are put in the greenhouse because
when sunlight passes through its glass panes, the heat that comes with it is unable to
escape back outside and this helps the plants keep warm during the cold season. The
greenhouse gases are like the glass panes. When sunlight hits the earth, the atmosphere
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allows its rays and heat into the world. However, this heat is trapped inside because the
presence of the poisonous gases mentioned deters it from getting out. This makes the
whole world feel hotter and hotter. Because of the imbalance in climate, resulting
weather conditions are also erratic and abnormal in different places in the world. The El
Nino and La Nina phenomenon are some of the results of this alteration to nature.
Fossiled fuel, the basic petroleum that is being used to run ordinary cars and other
transportation vehicles releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct when automobiles are
turned on. Figure 2 shows how much carbon dioxide has been able to top the list for
notoriety because it is way past the levels of other gasses.
The debate on whether there is a problem with global warming or not, and the
arguments about the way countries can be united to help eliminate air pollution has
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undermined the efforts and ideas that could actually help solve or lessen the problems.
All the talk and the controversy has taken too much of the precious time that mankind
could have used to start caring for the environment better. The international
procastination is still going on but the Victoria Transport Policy Institute has taken its
good time and effort to suggest several small but concrete ways by which the United
States can lessen its greenhouse gas emissions from its present transport system.
The U.S. transportation system is the largest in the world and is the second largest
source of greenhouse gas emissions for this particular country (Greene & Schafer, 2003,
pp 1-2). It is necessary for Americans to act on the issue urgently as a nation because it is
one of the top contributors in the problem. Without a firm stand and concrete action from
the U.S., no sincere effort can be successful in reducing the predicament of global
warming.
Strategies that Promote an Environment Friendly Transport System
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) has chosen to explain its
suggestions well enough to show that the gap between ecological and economical
development can actually be bridged by certain win-win strategies. These suggestions
require the collective cooperation of many groups and government agencies to become
fully functional because it requires an alteration in the lifestyle and laws that are presently
in place. It calls for the correction of certain misleading and disadvantageous concepts
and policies and suggest better ideas which will benefit both the economy and the
environment.
Reforms in Modes of Transportation
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Most of the road planning that has been done is based on weak surveys that do not
take the importance of alternative transportation modes into full account. Many of the
questions underestimate the value of walking and bicycling which therefore produce
answers that imply the need for expansion of car roads instead of the improvement of
other modes of transportation. These also indicate that mobility is highly important
compared to accessibility and thus result in more expensive solutions instead of
alternative community lifestyle.
Presently alternative modes of transportation such as bicycling and walking are
only favorable if the trips are short. Longer distances require either the use of public
buses or private cars. With most American families convinced that family members
should have their own cars to be more mobile and adapt to the fast pace of life, the need
to use private vehicles to make trips to the grocery and other places become necessary.
Public buses in major routes are not prioritized because of time and location constraints.
However, there are other transport systems that can be tapped to decrease the use of
private vehicles for these kinds of trips. One of these is the jitney system.
In 1914, streetcars provided 100 percent of U.S. cities public transportation
(Slater, 1997, p. 45). Streetcars are like mini-trains that have electrical cables on top and
move on paved tracks on the main roads of town. These are run by electricity and were
considered as the buses that the U.S. citizens are using now. In 1915, the jitney system
was introduced because of the limitations of the then dominant streetcar transport system.
Jitneys are private cars or buses that can ply alternative routes that are more accessible to
many residents. Accessibility, lower fares, and the fact that jitneys can make side trips to
pick up passengers at certain agreed upon points became such a success. This however,
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was protested by streetcar companies because by 1915, the jitneys were taking more and
more of the transportation market. Stricken by the very quick progress of jitneys,
streetcar companies lobbied for more restrictions on their competition. Municipalities
decided to impose taxes and insurance bonds that proved fatal to the jitney transport
system and ended its very short existence in 1916.
Streetcar operators thought that they had claimed victory but the eventual
improvement of faster and more comfortable buses and automobiles made by General
Motors slowly claimed the roads that were once driven by streetcars. In 1920, 8.1 million
Americans had cars but by 1929, this rate reached 23.1 million which came to the point
that by 1937 39 cities or 4 percent of U.S. cities used street cars while the 50 percent was
already being served by buses. Ownership of cars led to less use for public transportation
but higher greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S. citizenry is highly dependent on vehicle ownership but adding jitneys
can lessen this dependence. Jitneys can ply routes that are more adapted to the
commuting preferences of Americans and lessen the need to use more gas-powered cars.
Improved biking lanes can also encourage motorists to take the healthier alternative.
When fully implemented, these suggestions can reduce automobile travel by 10 to 20%
compared to the present situation (VTPI, 2007).
Pay as You Drive Pricing
Another suggestion worth studying is the pay as you drive pricing or distance-
based pricing which means that insurance, registration, tax and leasing fees are based on
the mileage of a vehicle. Using the car often will entail higher fees while opting to use
alternative modes of transportation can lessen the charges. If this policy is implemented,
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people will choose to walk, bike or plan their trips better so that they will only use their
cars when it is truly necessary.
An instrument called an odometer can help insurance companies and other
agencies audit and find out how much distance the car has run in one year. These gadgets
require minimal costs but when fully implemented, can actually reduce the motivation to
keep using private cars while ignoring the gas consumption.
Economical Parking Strategies
Institutions can also offer parking cash-out or the option for non-parking space
users to get the cash value of this benefit. This could be done while offering other
alternatives like car pooling for employees. Instead, parking fees that enable car drivers
to pay instantly for the timed usage of the space can also be implemented. This can make
motorists more aware of what they are spending on transportation and motivate them to
find other ways of commuting. These strategies can reduce private car use by as much as
30 percent (VTPI, 2007).
Priced Use of Roads
Motorists can also be made more aware of their transportation costs if they are
directly paying for the roads that they will use. Congestion pricing or increasing the price
on road use during peak hours can not only help lessen the traffic but also encourage car
drivers to find other ways to get to their points of destination. According to VTPI (2007),
this scheme can lessen vehicle traffic by up to 20 percent.
Transit and Rideshare Improvements
Public transits can be more attractive to use if they are improved and more
logistically placed. Greater facilities, more routes, better services, higher security
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measures, more comfortable features, special events buses and other marketing strategies
can help increase the peoples desire to use these vehicles and lessen private traveling by
10 to 30 percent (VTPI, 2007).
Walking and Cycling Options
Europeans are known to prefer walking compared to riding or commuting. In
fact, this is considered one of the causes of EuroDisneys failure to profit in the European
locale and market. Americans would rather commute because of the easy availability of
car ownership. However, walking and cycling are very healthy ways to get to nearer
destinations and public transits. Although the government cannot force people to opt for
these healthier forms of travel, better sidewalks, streetscaping, pedestrian lanes, biking
lanes and bicycle parking areas can help encourage people to engage in this activity. This
is one of the simpler ways that any individual can do to help fight global warming and is
an option available to most.
Community Development
People can be more encouraged to walk and bike to their destinations if these are
closer to their residences. Establishing smaller communities or commercial places that
serve less individuals can help decrease the need to use carbon emitting vehicles.
Community planning can help by ensuring that the basic areas of every society is built
within spaces that are easier to access by foot instead of separated from each other. Mini-
groceries, drugstores, libraries, clinics and other major daily destinations could be
established so that these are accessible by walking or biking instead of the diverse distant
structures that are currently in place. Although this development may take years before it
can be implemented, its benefits can be worth it.
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Freight Transport Management
Freight transportation rests heavily on fossil fueled vehicles nowadays. However,
it can choose to run efficiently if it maximizes other modes of transport like air, marine,
truck and rail to deliver its freight. Strategic locations for these other modes of
transportation can improve distribution practices and also lessen traffic congestion
because the delivery vans that are being used at present are bulky and heavy. With better
planning, freight management can actually reduce travel by 5 to 20 percent (VTPI, 2007).
The freight aspect of transportation has received little attention because it is
considered efficient enough already. However, there are still ways to improve the
systems such as technological advancement in the form of a better thermal efficiency
for diesel powered trucks which can also be adapted to trains. These locomotives can also
be redesigned into lighter models that could consume less fuel. Research is also being
done to find alternative fuel for ships and technology is being developed to used natural
gases that could reduce carbon dioxide byproducts by around 38 percent (Greene &
Schafer, 2003, p.21).
Car Sharing
Another idea that can either be embraced or rejected by communities is car
sharing. Instead of owning a car, certain persons can opt to share the expenses of using
and maintaining a vehicle. Another way could be for people to opt to rent cars by the
hour or daily rate. This enables individuals to lessen their expenses based on just what
they need to use. Motorists who shift from car ownership to carsharing typically reduce
their vehicle traced by 30 to 60 percent (VTPI, 2007)
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Tax Focus on Vehicle Use
Putting more taxes on car ownership and gas can increase awareness of the
expense that is wasted on unwise motorist habits. This could also help the government
recoup the needed budget to import the petroleum. This could be done slowly and can
also help lessen the other taxes that are being forced upon the lower-income bracket of
society.
The suggestions of the VTPI mentioned above are highly applicable without
causing the decline of the U.S. economy. America simply needs to shift to another
perspective and prioritize the environment without putting too much pressure on
economics. In fact, even the health of the American population will also be enhanced if
the measures are adopted and embraced. Smaller communities can help form better
friendships. Putting a price on parking space and road use can help increase awareness
for the need to lessen uncontrollable use of owned vehicles and increase peoples
creativity in finding better modes of transportation.
Alternative Fuels and Modes of Transportation
Research is being done to find other unconventional oil resources that can
help maintain the transportation systems needed for a thriving economy. There are
scientists who are suggesting that the earth has a vast supply of other kinds of oil such as
tar sands and shale oil which can be refined to produce the gasoline that everyone needs
to move around. It is a common belief that extracting these and conversion to useable
form entails even higher technology. Canada is presently converting its oil sands and
Venezuela their heavy oil into more conventional forms of fuel that can be used for
peoples different needs.
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Air transportation also emits great amounts of greenhouse gases and researchers
are trying to study the options man can take in airplane fuel. Due to a planes size and
energy requirement, petroleum is still the best energy source even if liquid hydrogen and
liquefied petroleum gas are being considered to do the same job. The drawback for
alternative fuel in the aircraft industry is the cost of fuel which will be likely because of
the production cost it would entail. Converting the fuel into its alternative form would
increase significantly and this is detrimental to the economy.
Aside from the suggestions made by VTPI, many scientists have already made
inventions that can also help lessen the need or fossil fuels. Hybrid vehicles that partly
run on electricity and other vehicle inventions that use other types of fuel that emit
cleaner gases are already available as options for consumers.
Hybrid-electric vehicles combine the benefis of gasoline engines and electric
motors (How Hybrids Work). These can also meet many different needs of motorists by
improving fuel consumption and better power for car accessories. These vehicles are
advanced in their own way and have many features that present car owners would want.
A feature called regenerative braking converts the energy from the wheels
turning to become more power for the autos motor that can be stored in the cars battery.
Electric Motor Drive is a feature allows the electric motor of the car to give more
power when the vehicle accelerates. This entails a lighter and smaller packed engine that
is more efficient compared to the normal cars manufactured that are reliant on internal
combustion. Automatic Start and Shutoff is a feature that automatically turns off the
engine when the car is stopped and easily turns it on ones the accelerator is stepped on.
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This feature can eliminate the much wasted energy when cars are waiting to move in
traffic.
Scientists are also looking into the possibility of cars run on liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) which can actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 20 percent
(Greene & Schafer, 2003, p. 13). LPG is a byproduct of the process that crude oil
undergoes during refinement. This considerably limits the supply of LPG and inhibits it
from being a good option against the gasoline fueled cars.
Other alternative cars are called Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV) because these are
run on 85 percent ethanol and only 15 percent gasoline (How Hybrids Work). These
vehicles have been produced since 1980 are very similar to the current totally gasoline
dependent automobiles and have no particular interesting additional feature besides its
lessened dependence on gasoline. The difference lies in the mileage of fuel used because
ethanol has less energy thereby making FFVs get about one third less distance run
compared to totally gasoline dependent cars. Because of the similarity, many people may
not even be aware that they are actually driving an FFV. The only way to find out would
be to see the car fuel door to see a sticker or to research it from the manual.
Another invention is called the Electric Vehicle (EV) that is run using a
rechargeable electric motor. This type of alternative has its own advantage and
disadvantage over the normal car. First of all, it is highly efficient because the motor
converts three quarters of the batterys energy to move the tires as compared to the
gasoline powered ones that only translates up to twenty percent. Secondly, this vehicle
does not emit any pollutant. Thirdly, it is easier to recharge the motor domestically
compared to the normal cars necessity to drive through gasoline stations. Lastly, EVs
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are more silent, smooth and need less focus on maintenance. The disadvantages lie in the
battery. The most critical drawback is its mileage per charge which means that it only
runs half of the distance taken by normal cars before it needs to be recharged again taking
four to eight hours of what could have been travel time. The battery is also heavy, space-
consuming and expensive as technology has not yet improved its longevity.
Scientists are working on the development of another alternative car called the
Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs). This automobile also uses electricity but does not need an
external source for it. It can make its own power from tanks of hydrogen gas kept within
the vehicle. The inventors have built it in such a way that its fuel cells can generate
electricity via a chemical process that takes the hydrogen fuel and oxygen from its
surroundings. Owners can also refuel using methanol, natural gas and gasoline because
these can easily be converted into hydrogen gas through an installed device called a
reformer. (How Hybrids Work). These FCVs offer more efficiency compared to the
gasoline-based engined cars and may also adapt more advancements in the future to
increase its value. FCVs running on hydrogen gas only emit water and heat instead of
greenhouse gases. Using the other forms of gas can result to some greenhouse gases but
it is considerably minimal compared to the current ones running.
There are still some setbacks before full marketing and sales of FCVs can be
done. First, scientists need to find ways on reducing the cost without lowering the cars
level of performance. Another point that needs to be researched on is in finding better
safety measures to secure the very volatile hydrogen gas that these vehicles need.
The inventions mentioned answer the calls of ecologists while providing
economists with options on how to ensure that the transportation industry can still
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maintain the demands of a thriving nation. The U.S. government has been doing its job
to promote hybrids and AFVs since 2005 and have encouraged motorists to prefer these
by giving federal income tax credits of up to $3,400 for hybrids and $4,000 for
alternative fuel vehicles; and $2,000 clean-fuel vehicle tax deduction; and a one-time
federal tax credit of up to $4,000 for EVs (How Hybrids Work).
International Concern
Many environmentalists are lobbying for the improvement of policies that are
needed to ensure that nature is protected well. However, the collective effort of all the
countries on earth is needed to ensure the survival of the planet. Everyone should be
concerned because the life of each creature depends on the protection of our livable
habitat.
It was in 1989 when 68 countries met in the Netherlands to discuss the global
warming issue (Chow & Leong, 2006, p. 66). Grave arguments have been posed and
three strategies suggested. The first was for all the countries to agree on a date by which a
certain level of reduction of green house gases must have been achieved individually.
Another suggestion was that only the developed countries must enact to lower their
greenhouse gas emissions because they were the proponents for industrialization. It was
also suggested that these countries must find the technology needed by Third World
Countries and fund it to ensure proper implementation. This caused quite a stir because
the sole responsibility was being burdened on the First World Countries. The last
suggestion came from the rich countries who opted to put more research on the issue
before they could make better plans in reducing the greenhouse effect.
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By 1997, in what is known as the Kyoto Conference, 159 parties agreed to reduce
their countries output of greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below the 1990 level by the
year 2012 while the U.S., Japan and European Union promised to target higher
percentages (Chow and Leong, 2006, p67). A system of trading emission permits was
also proposed to aid the Third World countries adapt financially-burdening technology to
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. However, in 2001, the U.S. suddenly backed out
of the agreement because it believed that cooperating would entail a plunge in their
economy. This posed a handicap for the agreements because the U.S. was one of the
largest greenhouse gas emitters. Without its support, the efforts of the rest of the world
will just be in vain.
One by one, the big countries started backing out because their current status
implied that they would not be able to meet the targets made. In another conference held
in Buenos Aires, Italy suggested that the Kyoto Protocol be eliminated because none can
seem to reach its goals. Even the developing countries agreed because they felt that the
restrictions made to limit the greenhouse gas emissions were slowing down their
economic recoveries. Two new ideas were then conceptualized. The European Union
proposed that new targets could be made within a span of twenty years while the United
States recommended that new technology be developed and implemented after the
twentieth year.
The urgency of the situation does not affect developed countries enough to give
upper concern on the global environment below their own national economies. Countries
like the United States which is a major contributor to the problem would rather take the
wait and see attitude.
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Al Gore, a staunch environmentalist and highly esteemed American political
figure opposed the Bush administrations decision to wait another twenty years. Gore
emphasizes that the doubling amount of greenhouse gas emissions have unpredictable
results that man may not be able to successfully solve nor reverse. The uncertainty of the
future is a constant aspect that should be kept well in mind. Man needs to act on the
basis of what is known instead of buying time to develop new technology (Gore, 2006,
p. 37).
Conclusion
Humans have done well to create different societies who have enabled themselves
to be open to industrialization. However, commercialism, urban lifestyle and the need to
compete economically with other nations have distracted these countries to ignore the
looming problem of global warming.
Global warming is an urgent issue that must be solved or at least slowed down for
man to escape the probability of extinction. It is a phenomenon that could provide a
turning point for the changes that need to be made in the current society especially in
the United States. The urgency of the situation, is not felt critically by every citizen even
if everyones life depends on it.
Transportation is a vital aspect of economic dominance and is one of the greatest
producers of greenhouse gas emissions. With powerful governments being tied down by
their economic views, much needs to be done by individuals to enforce change. Although
the U.S. is doing a lot of research, it cannot put aside the fact that nature has not
announced its deadline and further imbalance may tip the scale over without warning.
Man needs to do his part collectively. United we stand. Divided we fall.
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Works Cited
Chow, G. &. (2006, May). The Problem of Global Warming from a Realist Perspective:
Implications to Global Logistics.International Journal of Global Logistics and
Supply Chain Management.
Gore, A. (2006). The Shadow Our Future Throws.Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the
Human Spirit. New York: Rodale. pp. 36 55.
Greene, D. L. (2003, May). Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.ethanolgec.
org/information/briefing/9.pdf
How Hybrids Work. (2007).Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved June 15, 2007,
from http://www.epa.gov
Litman, T. (2007, Jan). www.vtpi.org. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from Victoria Transport
Institute: http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf
Slater, C. (1997). General Motors and the Demise of Streetcars. Transportation
Quarterly, Vol. 51. No. 3, pp. 45-66.
Suzuki, D. (2003). Economics and Politics. The Suzuki Reader. Vancouver: Greystone,
pp. 89 103.
Titus, J. (2002, Octobert).Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved April 21, 2007,
from www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/downloads/transportation_paper.pdf
http://www.ethanolgec/http://www.ethanolgec/
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