Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making - Essay Example

The paper "Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making" is a worthy example of a business essay. Any product has a life cycle beginning with the extraction of raw materials from the ground followed by processing or refining and manufacturing process. It will then be consumed for a given period and recycled or disposed of because of breakage or the end of its usefulness (Barrett 2009, p. 17). In the modern world, cars have become more of a necessity than a luxury, which has pushed production, consumption, and disposal to high levels and this paper will focus on the environmental implications of automobiles throughout their lifecycles. The reason for choosing cars is because the automotive industry forms the economic sector that is most symbolic of modern times as well as the environmental consequences of modernity.

 Presently, the US alone has close to 300 million passenger vehicles in use, out of which at least 10 million come to the end of their valuable lives and must be disposed of (Barrett 2009, p. 24). This creates such a considerable impact on the environment that it cannot be ignored, especially with the fact that manufacturing a new car will create as much carbon pollution as using it. Before manufacture, ores are dug from the ground for the extraction of metals that are turned into parts. Then, there is the bringing together of other components such as paint, plastic dashboards, and rubber tires. The environmental significance of this is that it will involve the transportation of materials around the world and result in inevitable emissions. In the consumption phase of its lifecycle, a car will need petroleum products for fuel and lubrication. This raises environmental concerns since cars will be driven throughout their useful lifetimes and, in the US, cars are the biggest compromises of air quality (Barrett 2009, p. 39). Then, apart from the emissions that result from the consumption of petroleum products, even their extraction from the earth entails energy-intensive processes that are harmful to local ecosystems. Further, when petroleum products are shipped to consumers around the world, they create potential disasters for the environment such as oil spills. The consumable parts of cars such as tires and brake pads also pose environmental hazards since they will need periodic replacements, meaning that they must be manufactured through processes that require further raw materials and energy. When a car reaches the end of its usefulness, not all of the components and materials used in its production are recycled. This means toxic battery acids and some plastics will remain in the environment as pollutants (Barrett 2009, p. 42).
In conclusion, cars have been shown to have environmental implications throughout their lifecycles starting from manufacture and consumption and disposal. Raw materials are extracted from the ground, which negatively impacts the ecosystem. During consumption, cars damage the environment through emissions and disposing of consumables such as rubber tires batteries. When they complete their useful lives, not all parts are recyclable. These findings will be expanded in Essay 2 by providing more details and statistics as well as suggesting ways of mitigating the environmental impacts. Mitigation strategies include the use of carbon-neutral energy sources, energy-efficient engines and modern and efficient industrial processes and equipment (Barrett 2009, p. 69).