Essay about The Ethical Debate over Gasoline

Once upon a time Americans hopped into their cars on warm spring days and took long drives to admire the beauty of nature. Teenagers took joy rides around town to meet friends and rode from one “hot spot” to another. Those were the days when gas prices were affordable to the average American. Over the past few years, gas prices in the United States have been on the rise. What is causing the increase in gas prices?

Electric cars impose a serious risk on the oil and gas industry. The extent by which this market succeeds reciprocally defines the extent by which the oil and gas industry deteriorates. As with all forms of technology, there comes a point in time where one form of technology no longer appears to be useful in comparison with an applicable alternative. The current inhibitors of electric car adoption are the price of batteries and vehicle performance. With that being said, battery prices dropped over 30% just last year and are expected to continue dropping. Projections estimate that 35% of cars will have a plug by 20401. However, even in the next few years, companies such as Tesla, Chevrolet, and Nissan plan to offer electric cars on the market at an affordable price. The question then becomes: when the oil and gas market will be displaced by the electric market? If both markets produce a vehicle of similar price and quality, then it is reasonable to assume that a customer will choose the option that is more eco-friendly. The moral issue still remains: should the vehicles of tomorrow be fueled by gasoline or are viable options readily available and acceptable?

White’s main points relate to the automotive revolution. Environmentalists want car companies to determine how to make alternatives to the regular petroleum-fueled engine. White explains alternative methods that could persuade the automotive industry to go green, such as using ethanol or other biofuels to power one’s car (332). However, while explaining

In today’s society, everyone seems to be in a rush. Convenience trumps nearly anything and everything. The closest and the promptest option is the one we often lean toward, regardless of the consequence or cost. One of the biggest convenience items within the 21st Century is gasoline. Regardless of the price, we often purchase this item at the most suitable site and time, especially when we are in desperate need of the item. Gasoline companies are alert that convenience is ideal; therefore, they alter gas prices to obtain the greatest amount of business.

Cars, just about every household in America has probably at least two parked in their driveway at any given time. The dependency on the gas powered car has substantially increased since it’s invention and production back in 1908 by the Ford Motor Company. As of 2014, it was estimated that there were over 88 million cars produced world-wide and growing every day. (Fig. 1) Even though a lot of these vehicles might be the new Hybrid edition, the majority of them have a dependency on oil and gasoline products for their survival and existence. Petroleum products, such as oil and gasoline do not come cheap or even free to the consumer, even the

As a result of EPA regulations, today’s diesel engines are more efficient than ever before seen in large and midsized trucks. Certain regulations restrict truck owners from using certain truck models, because of excess diesel emission. Increasing drastically as technology improves, cars and trucks produce less and less diesel exhausts and emissions. “But because diesel engines can operate for 30 years or more, millions of older, dirtier engines are still in use,” (Epa.Gov). Reducing exposure to diesel exhaust from these engines is especially important for the preservation of human health and the environment. According to the EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency,

On August 10, 1978 three young girls died in a 1973 Ford Pinto after being stuck from the rear by a driver in a van. The Ford Pinto was completely engulfed in flames and the accident resulted in the death of the three young girls. Today, the debate continues regarding whether or not The Ford Motor Company was responsible for this case and many other cases involving the Pinto bursting into flames resulting in disfigurement or death.

At some point in everyone’s lives, we are affected by the rising gas prices in today’s economy. Natural gas is not a renewable resource, since there is a fixed amount of it trapped in the Earth. However, many people carry the misconception that there is a very limited amount of natural gas, and that we may use all of it up. This isn’t true. The gas shortages of the 1970's were prompted by the government’s lack of faith in the industry’s ability to discover and develop new reserves, not by lack of gas supply. The unfortunate impression left by the shortages of gas in the 1970's caused the people to believe that there was a small amount of gas left. On the contrary, the gas resource base is vast, and probably even

The topic of this paper is Gasoline prices and potentially higher state sales tax. According to Stephen Singer’s article (2017, August 24); Connecticut legislators are deciding to raise the state sales tax and gas prices from its current rate to 6.85% to close a budget gap that’s predicted to reach $3.5 billion over two years to help lower state aid cut to towns. I disagree with the decision the legislatures of Connecticut are making to fix a budget gap with higher taxes on retail products and gasoline prices because increasing the prices of these products with higher taxes would increase the price of consumer goods and services. According to the law of demand and the law of supply, when there is an

In the article, On the Limitation of the Term ‘Petroleum Products’ in the Determination of the Oil Pollution of Bottom Sediments (2017), Z.A Temerdashev (also this article’s corresponding author), L.F. Pavlenko, I.G. Korpakova, and G.V. Skrypnik et al. investigate the overuse of the term ‘petroleum products’ upon measuring levels of exposure to toxins, carcinogens, and mutagens in bottom sediments of the Sea of Azov & the Black Sea, as well as identify a more effective way of studying this concept. Through the process of bioaccumulation, toxic bottom sediments disrupt the food chain of organisms living the the ocean. Although scientists, along with much of the world’s environmentalists, have already gained knowledge of the potential risks

Society itself can't stop these products for being produced only the designers themselves have to put it on themselves to be responsible in putting the consumers well being in front of their own. The people that test these vehicles like the NHTSA should have tested every aspect of the vehicle before letting production of an unsafe product Legal Case Grimshaw vs Ford Motor company this case was formed due to a Ford Pinto stalling on the freeway soon getting rear ended and erupting into flames. The driver of the vehicle passed away in this accident due to severe burns to the body and congestive heart failure. The passenger of this vehicle was Richard Grimshaw, he as well had many severe burns causing the disfiguration of is appearance. This caused him to get many surgeries but in the end had many limbs lost.

Well we all know that the energy system is very unstable because the total energy available on the earth is limited, and man has exploited all the conventional technologies to fulfill his needs. By the use of these conventional technologies, the world also has a disability, with problems such as global warming. Consumption of energy by man increased gradually as his wants also increase. The conventional energy resources mainly include fossil fuels, but research shows that this fuel source will be depleted completely in approximately 20-25 years. This could cause major setbacks around the world. As a result, we need an alternative source of fuel that could keep the world running on its wheel. One possibility is ethanol. Chemically extract

Moreover, there are no new entrants to this industry in the U.S. because it is banned here, and other companies have geared their research and production in the area of biofuels and other less harmful additives. Despite all of the regulation, the bargaining power of the buyers are the motivation for those that seek to profit in this industry. The developing world’s economy is supported by their automobile industry and they are paying whatever price that they can to keep companies interested in this area of production. Developing countries do not have adequate resources to create alternative fuel sources. Therefore they are dependent on the lead additives in gasoline, in spite of all of the public health concerns that it raises. As a whole, the industry is very unattractive. The best thing for companies to do is to research alternative fuel methods and to invest in the biofuels market because this is the industry that is most promising currently, and will continue to be in the future.

Ford was not in violation of the law in any way and had to make the decision whether to incur a cost to fix the obvious problem internally. There were several options for the fuel system redesign. The option most seriously considered would have cost Ford an additional $11 per vehicle. Under the strict $2000 budget restriction, even this nominal cost seemed large. In addition, Ford had earlier based an advertising campaign on safety, which failed miserably. Therefore, there was a corporate belief, attributed to Lee Iacocca himself, of “safety doesn’t sell”. (2)

“Any increases in the price of oil in the U.S. or in our other markets or any sustained shortage of oil, including as a result of political instability in the Middle East and African nations, could weaken the demand for such vehicles, which could reduce our market share in affected markets, decrease profitability, and have a material adverse effect on our business.” Page 26