1 Climate Change in America Climate issues in today's world are growing more severe by the day. Greenhouse gases released by engine cars are negatively affecting our environment. American societies are situated in industrialized areas; their close ties to the natural world expose them to significant vulnerability and sensitivities to changing conditions. Climate change is not good, especially for American's future, than any part of the world. As a result, Americans must take action to address this issue as soon as possible. Although some may argue that this is not required, replacing engine cars with electric cars is one way to combat climate change. Figure 1 Greenhouse gases released by engine cars. One of the primary reasons that engine cars are not suitable for our environment is because they emit toxic greenhouse gases into our oxygen. Correspondingly, in their analysis of electric cars' advantages, Helmers & Marx concluded that engine cars release toxic greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, negatively impacting the environment. Thus, engine cars are one of the contributors to our climate issues. This means that we need to replace engine cars with electric vehicles to see a gradual improvement in our environment. Furthermore, replacing engine cars with electric cars will decrease the amount of oil production. This is immensely crucial for the environment. According to Sanderson's 2013 book, 2 engine cars burn oil to function. As a result, the oil will be released into the air and eventually combine with the water, making it hard for oxygen to move. Thus, if we replace engine cars with electric vehicles, we won't have to worry about the oils being emitted into our environment. Though replacing engine cars with electric cars offers numerous advantages, some may argue that electric vehicles are expensive and belong to luxury purposes only. While it is true that electric cars are more expensive, purchasing engine cars simply because they are less expensive is a mistake. In fact, in a long-term study that compares the costs of electric vehicles and engine cars, Palmer discovered that electric cars save fuel costs compared to engine cars. Besides that, the cost of maintaining an electric vehicle is much lower because they have hardly any moving parts and a smaller amount of fluids to maintain. The same study stated that "As electric vehicles become more common, it's likely that the cost of charging equipment will drop significantly" (Palmer, 2020). This quote indicates that cost won't be a problem once we adopt electric cars into our society. Our responsibility is to begin using electric vehicles, and everything else will follow as intended. Given the various positive effects of electric vehicles, American communities should require that anyone who wishes to purchase a car do so by buying an electric vehicle rather than an engine vehicle while also doing everything possible to keep electric vehicles affordable through reduced charging and insurance fees. If we act now, the risk of climate change will be reduced in the long run, and we will have a better environment to live in in the future. 3 Reference Helmers, Eckard, & Marx, Patrick. (2012). Electric cars: Technical characteristics and environmental impacts. Environmental Sciences Europe, 24(1), 1-15. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2190-4715-24-14 Palmer, Brian. (July 31, 2020). Electric vs. Gas: Is It Cheaper to Drive an EV? Science Spotlight: NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/electric-vs-gas-it-cheaper-drive-ev Sanderson, Eric W. (2013). Terra Nova: The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs. New York: ABRAMS (Ignition). https://ebookcentral-proquestcom.ezproxy.uky.edu/lib/kentucky-ebooks/reader.action?docID=5312992 Taft, Nathan. (October 19, 2016). What comes out of a tailpipe, anyway? [Photograph]. Fuel Freedom Foundation. https://www.fuelfreedom.org/tailpipe-emissions/
