Benefits of using an electric car

Argumentative essay will be on an environmental topic from the list of options below. Consider your audience for this paper to be your peers. The essay should be between 3 ½ and 4 pages (850 to 1,000 words) in length, not including the cover page, abstract, or reference page. It should be double spaced in Times New Roman

Environmental issues are becoming a very contentious and polarizing issues within society currently. For one, many consumers are now demanding the businesses and corporations adhere to a higher ESG standard that reflects the overall value of society. No longer is it acceptable for businesses to simply prioritized wealth enhancement of shareholders. Due to evolving ESG standards, many consumers and government around the world are demanding that corporations also look to improve societal outcomes as well. Here, betterment of the all stakeholders is paramount to overall corporate success, not just shareholder wealth. Research has also shown that consumers are willing to pay premium prices for products and services that adhere to minimum ESG standards. This research has been validated by the rise of Tesla adoption rates even though the vehicle is more expensive that some of its gas-powered peers (Moore, 2015). Likewise brands such as Chipotle and Ben & Jerry’s have flourished. These elements coalesce to form a very strong tailwind to adopt environmentally friendly protocols and procedures. Here, the backing of government entities which provide financial incentives for consumers who engage in environmentally friendly behavior, a general consensus that sustainability is a major concern globally, and a willingness of businesses to provide sustainable solutions, all combine to form an accommodative operating environment. This is no more apparent than within the electric vehicle market, where government regulation and intervention has benefited the overall adoption rates within the country. For one, the United States along with many other nations have instituted a carbon tax that looks to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas powered vehicle. In addition, consumer demand to help lower dependence on foreign oil while also helping to conserve the environment has also been a boon for electric vehicle manufacturers. As a result, it is my contention that electric vehicles are good not only for the economic environment but for the natural environment as well.

To begin, electric vehicles can help benefit the environment in a litany of ways. The first, and most well-known contribution is that electric vehicles can significantly improve air quality in highly populated towns and cities. This is a large concern as towns and cities become much more densely populated requiring the need for additional resources. Unclear air will therefore expose an increasing amount of the population to harmful chemical and pollutants. Theses harmful chemicals can ultimately cause nearly 100,000 premature deaths according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to death, pollution from nitrogen oxides and other compounds can cause serve damage to humans who are exposed to these chemicals over long period of time. For example, even at low concentrations, these pollutants can cause lung irritation, asthma, coughing and severe difficulty in breathing. Petroleum based vehicles, trucks, factories, and equipment often produce other harmful particle within the work environment that can easily disseminate into the public domain. Her again exposure to this pollution can cause chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, and even cardiac problems for individuals. These issues are exacerbated as urban issues are attacking more consumers annually and thus becoming denser. The increase in this density ultimately creates a higher degree of exposure to consumers (Mar, 2004).

Urban areas however are not the only parts of the country expose to the adverse effects of pollutants, rural areas are as well. In certain instances the damages to rural areas can be more profound as they often are not in close proximity to services that can mitigate these adverse consequences. For one, in high enough concentrations, air pollution can cause severe environment impacts to rural areas, where a majority of the nations agriculture products are located. The first issue is that of acid rain, which is when precipitation contains very harmful compounds that can harm crops and the environment at large. These harmful compounds are typically nitric and sulfuric acid, which can have devastating consequences for the surrounding environment and agriculture production. Acid rain damages trees, causes soil to acidify and most importantly causes water bodies to acidify. Current agriculture production relies heavily on clean water located in various irrigation systems, aquifers, and other water sources. By contaminating these water sources via acid rain, other agricultural products that rely on these water sources are adversely impacted. Acid rain also impact marine life, and other wildlife due to the pollutants and contaminates continued in the rain water (Copulos, 2007).

As can been seen from above, air quality has an economic impact on the nation as well. For one, destruction of agricultural products can result in higher prices for basic food products. This can potentially cause shortages of staple foods such as rice, corn and vegetable’s as acid rain has lowered crop yields. Prices of fish and poultry can also increase as adverse environmental considerations impact animal life. In particular marine life can be adversely impacted as there is less availability of fish and other wildlife. Here the process of eutrophication can occur within large bodies of water due to air pollutants. In this instance, large concentrations of nitrogen create large clusters of algae on the surface of large bodies of water. Generally speaking, the process of eutrophication is a natural process in the aging of lakes and other bodies of water. However, human activities have greatly accelerated the overall eutrophication process causing greater amounts of algae. This has ultimately resulting in the death of large amounts of marine life. Here, the large of amount of nitrogen produced by car, trucks, machinery and other equipment has caused the water to become much more acidic. This acidity has ultimately caused a large amount of marine death due to the acceleration of the eutrophication process. This also has a compounding effect on the food chain as less fish or contaminated fish can also impact other animals higher in the supply chain, causing still further damage to the environment and economy prosperity (Todd, 2013).

The above example are just a few instances of damages caused by extreme use of petroleum-based vehicles in society. There are still many other issues such as Ozone layer depletion, global climate change and haze that are just as impactful to society. Electric vehicles present a viable alternative to the petroleum-based cars as they help mitigate many of the occurrences discussed above. From an environmental perspective, electric vehicles significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions that could adversely impact climate change. In particularly CO2 emissions are heavily diminished through use of an electric car. Likewise, electric car batteries can easily be recycled, thus enhancing the sustainability initiative that gaining momentums worldwide. Here, through sustainability initiatives, more natural resources can be preserved for later generations while also being a benefit to the environment. Electric cars are help to mitigate air pollution as well. With the reduction in air pollution, the adverse circumstances related to lower crop yields, acid rain, and marine life destruction can also be properly mitigated.