Pollution and Environment Essay - Modest Proposal for Methanol and Etha

A Modest Proposal for Methanol and Ethanol Powered Cars      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "We need more stringent regulations on car emissions... Let's add MTBE to the fuel- that will reduce pollution... If people would just stop driving so much, pollution wouldn't be so bad..." People have long recognized the problems with the gasoline we used now.   We have tried everything from putting regulations on emissions, to putting additives in the gasoline (only to discover later that MTBE got into the groundwater), to campaigns to get people off the road.   However, more and more cars are on the roads as the population increases, and people are not going to stop driving.   Additives are as likely to cause problems as they are to prevent them.   Just changing the regulations is not going to fix the environment.    The United States can decrease its dependence on oil-producing nations and improve the environment without robbing every citizen's pocketbook. The gasoline used in most cars today produces pollution, endangers people's health, forces us to be dependent on OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies) or other oil production organizations, and contributes to global warming.   The main reason people have not converted to cleaner, healthier fuel is that hybrid and electric cars are more expensive than the cars and gasoline we are using now.   However, we could implement a program for selling cleaner fuel at a lower cost than it is now offered.   If this program were   organized correctly, the increased costs would be minimal in the long run and the benefits would be enormous.   After considering several possibilities, I concluded that alcohol-burning cars are more practical than other environmentally friendly options because electric and h... .... 8 Nov 2001 <http://www.californialung.org/spotlight/cleanair01_alt.html>. Swim, David W. "Alcohol-fueled Cars Lose Their Fizz in Brazil." Online posting.   3 April 1998.   Latin American Trade Council of Oregon Discussion List. 8 Nov 2001 <http://solstice.crest.org/renewables/bioconversion-arc/msg00125.html>. "Spirits low as Brazil alcohol car in trouble anew." 22 Nov 1999. Climate Ark. 8 Nov 2001. <http://www.climateark.org/articles/1999/alcocaro.htm>. "Hydrogen: The Petroleum of the Future?" 12 Oct 2001. ECOWorld. 13 Nov 2001. <http://www.ecoworld.com/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=317> Pictures:   Art Today. 2001. 1 Nov 2001. <http://www.arttoday.com/Main/tour/search_results?q=cars&s=61&a=c>. Background: AAA Backgrounds. 2000. 1 Nov 2001. <http://www.aaa-backgrounds.com/cgi-bin/texdisplay.cgi?marble,1>.