Some people think that to reduce traffic and pollution, the government should increase tax on petrol (gasoline). Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

There have been some recent arguments that the government should collect more

tax

on gasoline to reduce

pollution

and traffic levels. I am convinced that

this

taxation would bring more benefits than drawbacks for society. One prominent disadvantage of

this

plan is the number of jobs that would be lost in the oil and gas industry.

Such

a

tax

increase would undoubtedly lead to immense revenue-cut for companies

such

as British Petrol, Exxon, Mobile, and Shell. To put it another way, these companies would have less budget to hire new employees, or even maintain their existing labour force.

As a result

, people who are now working in the industry may lose their jobs. Despite

this

, there are more advantages to

this

proposal. For starters, it will certainly decrease

pollution

levels and ease traffic in cities.

This

is because commuters who drive to work now would seek alternative ways to reach their destinations as gasoline prices rise.

Consequently

, there will be fewer cars on the streets, resulting in

pollution

reduction.

In addition

, the

tax

collected could fund more research projects on greener energy. Harvard University,

for instance

, has recently established a new research, where scholars and scientists could collaborate to improve the efficiency of solar panels. There's no doubt that projects

such

as

this

could accelerate their progress if given a sufficient budget. To conclude, while the increase in

tax

is likely to cost the oil and gas industry jobs, it is outweighed by the advantages it would bring. I believe

this

plan can effectively decrease traffic and

pollution

levels, and the

tax

collected can be used to support greener energy projects financially.