Fuel Efficiency Regulations and the American Automotive Industry
In conversations globally the environment is a hot topic. Issues with the ozone layer, depleting natural resources, and health risks associated with emissions and changes in climate coupled with its resulting natural disasters; have pushed conservation issues into the spotlight. The environmental issues presented today are not the result of one country, one type, or one-industry actions but a communal failure of a mixture of several. With that said many countries and industries are going through policy changes to combat environmental issues that will hopefully benefit the environment, the consumer, and industries.
One industry that is currently undergoing environmental challenges that call for changes is the American Automotive Industry. Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to the issue of global warming. When speaking of emissions we are referring to the amount of carbon dioxide and other gaseous chemicals that are released into the atmosphere. The release of these gasses creates respiratory issues in the populace, as well as creates thinning (and eventually holes) in our ozone layer. These gases are expelled from vehicles when fuel is burned; the greater the fuel usage of a vehicle the more it burns off into the atmosphere.
The American Auto Industry, in the form of vehicles it produces, account for almost one-fifth of emissions in the United States. Subtracting emissions created from production,
The U.S government has been actively involved in overseeing emission standards for years. This corresponds with the statement made by the U.S Department of transportation that, “Transportation is the largest end-use sector emitting CO2”, and also the statement released by the NRCAN in which, “Fuel usage & carbon dioxide emissions have grown steadily over the past two decades.” These factors are only to be associated with your average four door sedan and/or light truck. These do not include your 18 wheelers, heavy trucks, or the gas guzzling vans that emit more carbon dioxide into the air and are also on the road more today than ever have been before. Cars are readily and easily obtainable more so now than ever have been. This creates more fuel to be burned up in which produces more toxins to be constantly released into the atmosphere. In fact, according to Scientific American “cars relate as much as 30 gallons of GHG, while only driving 3 miles.” These miles can be correlated with something just as simple as your average work commute. According to the United States Census Bureau, “Nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.” Those workers alone would each be releasing up to 500 gallons of GHG. These can be considered some of the bigger factors that the greenhouse gasses have taken a toll on.
The second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is related to transportation, the burning of oil to produce energy in a combustion motor. The combustion process inside of engines is what produces the carbon matter that is emitted into the air through the exhaust system on gas-powered vehicles. Gas-powered transportation is accountable for 24 percent of the global carbon emissions; this should not come as much of a surprise given the amount of urban sprawl that is being seen in the United States and across the globe. In the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States government, and major car manufacturers have been working in conjunction to find ways to provide a “greener” form of transportation (EPA, 2011). This has included testing the use of hydropower, ethanol, natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity as a means of powering vehicles, which has led to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and gasoline, the byproduct of oil that is generally used in the engine combustion process of vehicles (U.S. Department of
First, cars pollute the environment. In 2012 the EPA reported that a whopping 28% of emissions came from transportation. As it says in the article “Running off the Road”, by Grover Kingsley, “With their largely petroleum based fuel, cars constantly spew carbon monoxide into the air.” We are responsible for the
Chapter 6, “The Burden of History: Expectations Past and Imperfect” from Kirsch’s book, The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History, focuses on the problem of automobiles in the modern day. Kirsch states that internal combustion engines release greenhouse gasses, which harm the environment. Each individual contributes to air pollution
Course Description This course focuses on the causes of, impacts of, and solutions to environmental issues. Students identify global environmental issues as well as develop and critique environmental action plans. Topics include ecosystems, energy, populations, resources, pollution, and sustainability. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • • University policies: You must be logged into the
Automobiles create many problems for the environment and the government. Pollution is created from cars, and people are dying from cancer and heart
Motor vehicles are a leading source of air pollution. Even though automobile and truck engines have become far cleaner in recent decades, the sheer
Every day, millions of Americans turn on the engines of their cars and drive to school or work. What these people do not realize is that the vehicles they operate greatly pollute the planet. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent website post, “Environmental Impacts from Automobiles”,
Cars and truck account for 20% of all U.S. global warming emissions, where more than 24 pounds per gallon of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases come right out of the car’s tailpipe (“Union of Concerned scientists”). This frightening statistic is part of the reason why the federal government has put in place many policies and incentives such as the Clean Air Act, The National Program for greenhouse gas emissions, Catalytic Converter Federal Laws, and incentives of $12,000 in California to get people to upgrade to more fuel-efficient cars. With such programs and incentives put in places, it is also important that car companies such as Toyota and Ford also take action to further cut pollution rates. They have done so by
Fuel efficiency in automobiles has become a topic of much discussion in recent years in the United States. This is due largely to the environmental devastation that fuel emissions cause, but it is also sparked by the rising fuel costs. Making cars with high fuel efficiency not only saves consumers money, but also will drastically reduce the pollution that is caused by emissions. Today automakers are putting a tremendous amount of effort into making their cars more fuel efficient, both to meet government regulations and to make their car more appealing to the consumer.
Environmental change is a logical certainty, and progressively a lived human concern. However, it is not yet what everybody should call social-global problem in one voice. It's not an essential almost we shape our social practices, nor a sufficiently huge social standard to go about as an imperative on our conduct. Around the planet there is developing energy to characterize environmental change as a security issue and thus as a motivation topping issue that merits noteworthy consideration and assets. Calls for movement are developing - yet at the same time outlined activities to address the issue has a cost or weight that will hamper business and go about as a drag on the economy.
America uses the most fuel resources. All other countries have smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles. We have some of them in America, but for the most part, we have big gas guzzling vehicles. Other countries also have a more abundant source of alternate fuel sources. I see all these big, worn out vehicles everyday.
“Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of
Environmental issues have been a cause of a lot of debate in the recent past. Governments and nongovernmental organizations have been in constant consultations on how to help protect the environment. Apparently, as a result of man’s many actions, the natural environment is getting torn apart so quickly that the coming generations will not enjoy this kind of environment, unless a
Automobiles are a major producer of greenhouse gas. One gallon of fuel burned puts five pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Let’s say that an average car gets 25 miles to the gallon, and that car has a ten gallon tank. Every time a car gets filled up with gas, another fifty pounds of carbon dioxide have been put back into the atmosphere, and that is just one car. The automobile industry is very important to the world economy, so I am not saying that we should stop making cars, but there are other solutions. The recent trend of hybrid electric cars that get up to fifty miles to the gallon are becoming more popular. Also public transportation is very important. City dwellers that live downtown, do not need to drive their cars to work. Every major city has a form of public transportation that can get anyone around the city, and for that gallon of gas a bus burns the same five pounds reaches the atmosphere, but instead of one