Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to solve growing traffic and pollution problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above statement? What other measures do you think might be effective?

Fuel

consumption has been established as one of the key contributors to rising environmental

pollution

. Because of

this

, some people argue that raising energy prices would be an effective way to protect the

environment

. In

this

essay, 1 am going to argue that

such

a policy is futile because it does not address the underlying causes of

pollution

and other measures are needed. Advocates of increasing

fuel

costs may argue that in doing so governments may discourage citizens from using personal vehicles, thereby reducing

fuel

consumption and making the

environment

cleaner. Consumers, especially in developing countries, are generally

price

Suggestion

pricey

-conscious, and

thus

the exorbitant

fuel

prices may gear them towards cheaper and more eco-friendly modes of transport like walking or mass transit.

However

,

such

reasoning is flawed, because car exhausts are only one of the many causes of

pollution

. Factories' discharge of

effluents

Suggestion

effluent

contaminates water sources, and deforestation is the main culprit behind land degradation. Adjusting energy prices would have little or no impact on these phenomena, and

therefore

the view that higher costs of

fuel

can effectively solve global environmental problems should be rejected.

Instead

of intervening in the energy market, governments should adopt more viable solutions to curb environmental

pollution

.

First

of all, stricter punishments must be administered on individuals and companies who do harm to the

environment

. Prison sentences may be given to people participating in illegal logging, and factories must be fined for releasing excessive toxic gases into the atmosphere. These steps ought to be carried out in tandem with educating the public about the poor state of the

environment

. Once people are conscious of the detrimental impacts that they have on the air quality or the water sources, they would be galvanized into action and start to actively protect the

environment

. In conclusion, I would contend that a scheme to raise

fuel

costs may not bring about the desired effect, and

therefore

other steps to mitigate environmental issues should be considered.