It has been argued that raising the price of petrol for cars and other means of transport is the most effective way to address international environmental issues. In my opinion, although this policy would ostensibly help reduce emissions, I believe it is far from being the best solution and environmental problems would be tackled more effectively if governments invest more in renewable sources of energy.
On the one hand, raising taxes on fuel may help in reducing air pollution and the carbon footprint of each individual. It is common knowledge that cars and other vehicles running on fossil fuels release a large amount of exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. This not only contributes to global warming but also exacerbates existing air pollution in many parts of the world, including rapidly industrializing nations such as China, where the air quality is so poor that citizens there have particularly high risk of respiratory diseases. If the price of fuel increased, people would be reluctant to use cars, which translates into a reduction in exhaust emissions. Therefore, increasing the cost of petrol may be considered an appropriate measure to tackle extreme, short-term environmental problems.
However, I believe increasing fuel costs would be somewhat counterproductive and a focus on renewables would be best. When the price of petrol increased dramatically, this would engender resentment among those who rely on fossil fuels and simply cannot switch to other sources of energy at once. Electric vehicles are the best substitutes; however, for the most part, these vehicles are still prohibitively expensive to be a mainstream replacement for cars that run on petrol. Therefore, concentrating on developing renewable sources of energy would be superior as these sources are less finite and pollution-free. Countries all over the world should invest more in wind farms and solar panels to make renewables more available to average residents. In this way, the dependence on fossil fuels will be reduced without creating classist system that punishes the less affluent.
In conclusion, although increasing fuel costs may help reduce emissions, I believe this policy would do more harm than good and giving priority to renewable energy is preferable. It is of paramount importance that all countries commit to environmental sustainability.