Electric Cars

There’s no doubt that one of the biggest issues in the world today is that of global warming and climate change. We are told that we must change the way we live before we make a negative impact on the environment that is too extreme to fix. Every day we are faced with choices to change our behaviors in ways that are more sustainable so we can decrease our footprint on the planet. As Americans, one of our biggest issues is the high level of pollution we create with our use of automobiles. We love our cars and trucks, even if they are gas guzzlers, and we love to drive even though we all know how harmful it is to the environment. Our gas powered vehicles pump all kinds of harmful greenhouse gases into the air and we hate paying more and more at the pump. However, we are still hesitant to change our ways. One trend that is becoming increasingly available, and popular, is the electric car. It once seemed like an unrealistic goal, but there are now cars that run entirely on electricity and they are available to everyone. These cars offer high mileage, high efficiency, and zero harmful emissions to the atmosphere. Some people think that electric cars are the answer to the pollution problem and that they should replace all gas powered vehicles and everyone should drive one. However, I disagree.

Although electric cars are a nice change from harmful gas guzzlers, I do not think they are the solution. We Americans use very high amounts of electricity everyday and we depend on it to sustain our lifestyles and our level of comfort. We love our appliances and our many forms of entertainment that are all powered by electricity. I think electricity is something we take for granted because we use it almost every minute of every day and we rarely stop to think about how we get it. There several different methods we use to get our electricity including some environmentally friendly ones, such as wind, water, and solar, and some very harmful ones. In the US, our main source of electricity is coal because it is very cheap and reliable compared to other sources. Unfortunately, coal burning power plants release large amounts of dangerous greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment. They are also responsible for deadly health problems and thousands of deaths each year. While it is true that electric cars would not contribute to the harmful emissions released from the tailpipes of our gas powered vehicles, they still need to be connected to the power grid which means they contribute to the harmful emissions released by the smoke stacks of coal burning power plants. This means that the claim that electric cars are emission free is not completely true.

I’m not saying that electric cars are evil or that they’re not a good idea to help solve the pollution problem. They do help and are probably better than most of the gas powered cars but I don’t think they are the best choice or the final answer. As Americans, we use way too much electricity already and if we all drove electric cars we would only increase that harmful behavior. As long as coal is our main source of electricity, we need to do everything we can to reduce our use of electricity instead of increasing it. I believe that electric cars should only be a temporary solution and we should continue to look for alternative fuels. I think that electric cars could be an ultimate solution only if we get our electricity from nothing but sustainable and environmentally friendly sources.