More and more people today are buying and driving cars which has a positive impact for the economy but can hurt the environment. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages

It is widely observed that

cars

are becoming increasingly popular with citizens in present-day society.

While

I acknowledge the economic

benefits

of

this

development, I believe they pale in comparison with its detrimental effects on the environment. Granted, the automobile

industry

has made great contributions to the economy in many ways. Given the fact that only a handful of well-developed countries have companies that are financially and technologically capable of producing

cars

, a large proportion of these

cars

are exported to less developed countries, bringing about tremendous

benefits

for the former countries’ national economy.

For example

, the US, Germany and Japan are all major economies whose success can be largely attributed to their car exports. It is

also

important to note that

this

industry

has created an incredibly wide range of job opportunities,

thus

providing finance for millions of people.

However

, I would argue that these economic

benefits

are outweighed by the harm

cars

cause to the environment. Considering that car production requires gigantic amounts of fossil fuels, it comes as no surprise that

this

industry

is currently one of the key drivers behind the accelerating depletion of these renewable resources.

In addition

,

cars

release significant volumes of exhaust fumes, which greatly exacerbates various environmental problems, namely air pollution and climate change.

This

can be seen in the case of the US, where carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases emitted from

cars

account for a massive one-fifth of the country’s total global warming pollution. In summary,

while

it is true that the automobile

industry

can offer various financial

benefits

for both individuals and countries, these

benefits

are nullified by the damage it does to the environment.