By: Lukas Eddy
It’s common knowledge that as China’s population and economy continue to expand, pollution and environmental degradation are only getting worse. One of the bigger aspects of this issue is the growing percentage of Chinese owning cars. The government knows the implications of more carbon-emitting and resource-depleting machines, and has taken several methods to combat it, such as increasing public transportation infrastructures and improving fuel economy standards. But how effective are they?
An article I read (http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2009/08/18/1) mentioned that more cars means more suburban sprawl. It even claimed Beijing was setting itself up to be the next Los Angeles! Now it’s looking that not only will China continue adding thousands of cars to its streets daily, but people will be driving significantly more due to the introduction of suburbs. Public transportation is always an option, but people will still have to use it for longer distances from the suburbs.
Ultimately, the only solution I can see is dramatically increasing fuel efficiency, thus making cars only available to the rich. This is a prime example of the individual preference vs. collective outcomes: the Chinese consumer would benefit far more from owning a car than he would suffer from the pollution caused by that car.
Should cars be affordable and dirty, or expensive but clean? How this policy might work in the US? Just how big of a luxury should the automobile be considered?
1 comment:
It is sometimes amazing to realize how much of a luxury automobiles are, especially in the US, where for the most part we take them for granted. While cheap and dirty, as well as expensive and clean are all too often the only options, is regulations (and the market demand) allowed for smaller and simpler cars, perhaps cheap and clean could be brought a little closer together.
Post a Comment