Reduction Plan on Vehicle Emission in Rural Areas - Term Paper Example

Reduction Plan on Vehicle Emission in Rural Areas Table of Contents Introduction 2 Iowa 2 Emissions in the Air 3 Air Pollution 4 Different Facets 5 Proposing Solutions & Potential Problems 7 Requirement of Resources 9 Benefits 9 Limitations 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Bibliography 13 Introduction It is rightly presumed by the experts from the industry that the only word that is constant in the world of today is the ‘change’ itself. With the massive changes in the field of information technology and communication process, the terms and the tricks of trade are shifting real fast. The way of doing business in almost all of the industries has experienced major shifts. The effects of globalization have made the world a smaller place to live in as the citizens today have much wider reach. The effects of globalization have literally written-off the geographical borders of the national as well as international boundaries. Such factors have invariably increased competition. On the one hand, it is true that the competition has proved beneficial for the customers as it has reduced the price and time lag but on the other hand, globalization also has many ill-effects as it increases use of machines and equipments as well as vehicles. Such increase invariably has positive contributions toward the greatest challenge of the present world like global warming. The increased purchasing power of the people contributes toward the higher standard of living. Such standards call for greater use of vehicles. And there is no doubt that the United States is one of the most developed nations of the world. Such greater usage of vehicles is not only affecting the busy city and the urban areas but also the rural counter parts of the country. Iowa Located in the mid-western region of the United States of America, Iowa is no doubt one of the prominent states of the country. As per the census of the United States, the state mostly comprises of the urban population with the figure more than 60% as on 2000. Also, the growth in the urban population is more as it has grew by around 8% in the period in between 2000 to 2008 (Iowa Data Center, n.d.). It is often perceived that the state of Iowa that is located at the heartland of the United States has agriculture as one of the major occupation for its citizens but the fact is that the main sources of occupation includes manufacturing, finance, biotechnology and government services. It can be said that the state of Iowa has a diversified economy. Emissions in the Air With the all – round developments at its all time high, the technology is being used like never before. The movements of the vehicles are increasing and so increasing is the usage of technology in the manufacturing processes. The farming processes are also not left far behind. Such technological usage essentially calls for greater use of fossil fuels. And it is a known fact that the emissions of the fossil fuels are the prime cause of air pollution. It is well known that the world is getting warmer every day as mountain glaciers are melting and the level of sea water level is fast increasing. The global warming has one of the major challenges and air pollution contributes much to such happening (Brown, n.d.). The state of Iowa is not an exception to this fact either. In many of the states of the United States, it can be observed that the rate of pollution is higher only in the urban areas compared to the rural areas. But that is certainly not the case for the Iowa. The urban area is definitely high on the emission because of the greater movements of the vehicles and the manufacturing industries. But contrary to the natural belief of many, even the rural areas of the state of Iowa, because of usage of modern farming techniques that calls for usage of non – renewable sources of energy and also for the usage of random usage of vehicles to commute long distances that the citizens of Iowa utilizes. It has been observed that the people of Iowa often use the large trucks and SUVs that essentially uses fossil fuels. Such vehicles are used to commute between the long distances in between the state. It is high time that certain and specific measures are initiated by the government and the regulatory bodies in order to initiate apt measures to reduce the level of emissions. For the purpose, at the outset, the government needs to understand the reasons of the emissions and the pollution that is hurting the skies and the environment of Iowa. Also, it is highly essential that the various interrelated factors of the air emission are taken into due consideration. Air Pollution It has been observed in several relevant researches that the air pollution in Iowa is specifically because of particulates. Various reasons have been identified by the researches for the cause of such particulates like that of agricultural activities, construction work sites, cement plants, scrap yards and milling operations. Also the asphalt and the gravel plants are the other major contributors of the air pollution in Iowa. Along with the cities like Buffalo, Mason City, Davenport and Des Moines of the state of Iowa, the rural areas are also strongly affected by the increasing pollution. To make the matters worse, not just emissions from the factories and the vehicles, but also the chemical pollutants have played significant roles. The chemical pollutants include the hazardous pollutants like that of carbon mono – oxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Also, such pollution has resulted in the frequent acid rain in the state of Iowa. The studies of the Iowa State University have revealed that the prime reason of emission of sulfur dioxide in such high degree is because of the electrical power plants of the state. The electrical power plants primarily use coal as the fuel. Coal contains highest degree of sulfur among the fossil fuels and also this has been thought as the reason for frequent acid rains in the region. The random use of the vehicles especially the long distances from one part to the other part of the state have resulted in to the increasing proportion of nitrogen oxides in the air. Nitrogen oxides are contributed by various types of vehicles like car, trucks and air planes through their exhaust. The other major pollutant of Iowa has been the carbon monoxide. Again, it has been found that the vehicles to be the prime responsible for the rising proportion of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is often paired up with lead which is equally harmful (Iowa State University, n.d.) Different Facets The pollution has been directly contributing towards the greater green house gas emissions. Global warming has its rule imbibed to many other indirect factors like as follows: Factors Affects Politics The political reasons have played significant underlying role in having the level of pollution in the environment of Iowa. Science The increasing development in the fields of science and technology contributes directly to the pollution. Whatever may be the cause, one thing is clear that the development in the field would not be done away with. Therefore, the onus to control the pollution lays on the owners of motor vehicles and the factory owners. Finance The fact cannot be overlooked that even if the owners of the motor vehicles and the cars are aware of the cause of the chunk of pollutants, yet they do not try to change the method at once because it cost them good sum of money. Similarly, the changes are quite frequent in this industry and often it happens that after incurring large sum of money, again the technology gets changed. Such happening hinders one to change the technology. Culture Many a times, culture also play an important role as people have firm belief regarding the particular culture and mechanism that might to lead to increased pollution. Proposing Solutions & Potential Problems It is fact that mere identification of the problems does not serve the purpose. Rather, the identification of the reasons of the increasing air pollution is required as it serves as the base of the discussion. Such identifications of the reasons get the real meaning when the respective solutions are proposed to the government of the United States to initiate and act. The President of the country is hereby proposed with few of the alternatives that could efficiently try and significantly reduce the level of air pollution at Iowa. Among the various reasons that have been held responsible for the ever growing pollution, the usage of modern methods of agriculture and farming is significant. The traditional farming did not use fuels and was eco-friendly but with time, with the advent of mass – machines, things changed. The farmers were introduced with modern technologies that used fossil fuels and in turn could cultivate a large portion of land at once. Such mechanism increased pollution but lessened the labor of the farmer. With the ever increasing pollution, it is high time that such method is done away with. Alternative agriculture as the mechanism is called is thought to be real helpful in fighting the water pollution with the help of the certain laws already prevailing at the state. Water pollution is expected to be reduced from the agricultural sources through the means of commodity problems and agricultural conservations as per the Clean Water Act (NRC, 1989). Apart from the agriculture, the other important source of pollution has been the emission from the vehicles that are used to commute long distances. In such case, it is proposed that the federal government keeps close vigilance over polluting mechanism of the vehicle. Frequent raids should be conducted at the freeways and the papers of the vehicles related to the pollution should be checked. Also, the government can make law regarding the usage of the engines of the vehicles to be within the particular time-frame. As the alternative, the vehicles owners should be encouraged by the government to use renewable sources of energy like gas energy or solar energy. The other major contributors of the air pollution include the thermal power stations all across the state that uses coal as the cheap fuel. It has been discussed earlier that the coal is the prime contributor of the sulfur that promotes the acid rain. It can be made mandatory on the part of the federal government to abolish coal as the fuel of the electricity power plants and urge them to turn towards the non renewable sources of energy like that of wind or water. Requirement of Resources In order to implement the proposed solutions to carb the increasing rate of pollution which can in turn check the ever increasing global warming, there should be optimum allocation of resources. The United States of America, being the richest nation of the world and also the most powerful, resources should never be a hindrance if the higher ranked officials display requisite level of commitment for the purpose. The resources are required in terms of man, money and time. As the funds get allocated, considerable sum of money should be assigned to compensate the affected person or business that follows government regulations and shifts from non – renewable sources of energy to renewable sources of energy (e.g. those vehicle owners who at once shifts from petrol to biogas, should be compensated in a way or the other). To accomplish any job successfully, the right man at the right place and at the right time is very important. The federal government should provide certain amount of money for the purpose of training and development of those persons who are supposed to be the change agents. Only with proper training, such persons would become competent for the new role. Also, the government should invest in time as such changes would not happen overnight rather there should be a clear cut time frame and after every regular interval, the progress should be measured and quantified. If any sorts of deviations are observed, rectifying measures should be implemented as fast as possible. Benefits The measures that are proposed to the President of the United States of America have many positive attributes. Primarily, pollution has come up as the global issue and every possible initiative should be implemented to prevent and lessen the effects of pollution, in whatever form it is. Being the leader of the nations, the United States of America have certain moral responsibilities towards its citizens and the measures initiated to carb pollution can be one such measure. It would strengthen the country’s position at the international stage. The measures that are proposed to solve the pollution stigma of the state of Iowa basically focus upon the renewable sources of energy. Such measures would increase the life expectancy of the people and would also ensure healthy living for the citizens. The measures would guarantee that it contributes negatively towards the greatest alarm of the present world i.e. global warming. It would also help to have positive impression about the state of Iowa among the minds of the general public and also it would attract investors from other states and countries. The tourists would be encouraged to visit the state as they can enjoy their leisure without pollution as such. Limitations Even though proposed measures are meant to solve the alarming problem of global warming and pollution, yet there are certain limitations to implement such measures as proposed. The foremost obstacle would be that of resources. If the federal government declines to support, it would be real tough to get the funds. Also competent persons are required who could be trained and employed as change agents. Now, such apt individuals might not be available at times. The most prominent limitation might be the attitudes of the firms and the organization. They might not agree to change their way of doing business all of a sudden as it would mean that they have to go for over all change which would hamper their business for a certain period of time as well as would initiate capital expenditure. Conclusion The various forms of pollutions are increasing in alarming rate. It is rightly suggested that to mitigate the threat of global warming, citizens should fight pollution at whatever form it appears at the every level. The air pollution in the state of Iowa has been increasing every day. Apt measures are hereby proposed to the President so that he could personally look in to the matter amidst his busy schedule and order to implement competent initiatives. References Brown, Lester, R. (No Date). Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Yayasan Obor: Indonesia. Iowa State University, (No Date). Iowa Environmental Issue Series. Retrieved Online from http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/IAN102.pdf on 5th February, 2010. Iowa Data Center, (No Date). Male and Female by Age and Urban and Rural Status for Iowa: 2000. Retrieved online from http://data.iowadatacenter.org/datatables/urbanrural/urstagesexbymalefemale2000.pdf on 5th Feb 2010. National Research Council, (1989). Alternative Agriculture. National Academies. Bibliography Brown, L. R. (2004). Plan B: Rescuing A Planet Under Stress And A Civilization In Trouble. Orient Blackswan. Floor, B., Martijn Van Der, H. C., (2009). Multifunctional Rural Land Management: Economics and Policies. VA Earthscan Ltd: London. McKinney, Michael L.; Schoch, Robert M. (1998). Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions . Sudbury, Mass. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Inc. National Academies Press (2003). Air Emissions From Animal Feeding Operations: Current Knowledge, Future Needs. National Academies Press: Washington DC. Southwick, C. H. (1996). Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press: New York. Tamara L. Roleff, (1997). Global Warming: Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven Press Inc: San Diego, CA. Read More