Global warming, air pollution, and greenhouse effects, to name but a few, are frequently referred to as major environmental problems that have been causing headaches for numerous nations’ authorities. To curb these phenomena, raising the price of fuel used for vehicles has been proposed as a potential solution. I personally agree with this idea, yet it still needs to be taken into great consideration concerning its plus points and tradeoffs.
Regarding the positive side of imposing a higher price of fuel, the benefits are great as it seems feasible to curb air pollution. As fuel-powered vehicles take up a large proportion of personal transport in many countries, a larger expense on petrol would disencourage motorists from frequently using their cars. As a result, they will employ tactics to minimize their fuel usage including using public transport more often or turning to electric vehicles for long journeys, thus significantly reducing gas emissions which is attributable to air pollution. Netherlands, for instance, has been the pioneer in employing such tactics. By imposing a big tax on fuel to cut down on gas emissions, Netherlands’ authorities have seen their people turning to cycling and greatly reducing carbon footprint.
However, fuel being overpriced can also pose enormous difficulties to a nation. From an economic perspective, high petrol costs would cause the whole nation’s economy to become rather sluggish as fuel is essential in delivering goods. The citizens, also the consumers, must pay a higher price for the same amount of product due to great delivery cost, which can accumulate to a big financial burden. Take Vietnam for instance, a few years ago, this nation suffered an economic recession due to a shortage of fuel and gas. Many people experience a great inconvenience as not anyone was able to afford fuel at such a high price. If it had not been for the government’s follow-up policies to ease such strain in the economy, Vietnam would have suffered many more serious problems.
To conclude, I personally think charging a high price of fuel is a feasible way to curb environmental problems as it would greatly discourage people from using it as if it were inexhaustible. Nevertheless, at which price should the fuel be charged is an issue that needs to be taken into serious account as overpriced fuel would otherwise cause detrimental impacts on a nation’s economy.