 Air Pollution Impacts on Economy: External Costs of DrivingVehicles also impose costs on resources that are non-financial like clean air, clean water and quiet. These three important costs are often overlooked, tucked away and frequently neglected. The external cost of pollution adds up to anywhere between $54.2 billion to as much as $232.4 billion a year. Motor vehicle pollution creates illness, shortens lives, damages crops, cuts visibility, damages materials, adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, pollutes water and cuts property values due to noise. In a 1995 study, a researcher named Mark Delucchi calculated the annual external pollution costs of cars like this: Air Pollution:
Water Pollution:
Noise Pollution:
Another problem that hurts the economy, as well as the air we breathe, is sprawl - where people keep expanding the suburban areas outside cities. Urban sprawl eats up land and creates larger distances for commuters to travel to the city, which means more people are driving more miles and adding more pollution to a larger area. Sprawl affects the space we use, increases air pollution, creates loss of habitat and biodiversity, interferes with social interactions, creates a larger demand for roads and parking lots and makes it a lot harder for non-drivers to get around. For more information about urban sprawl check out the following Web sites:
http://www.sprawlwatch.org/green/ http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/ All statistics were taken from "Chapter 9: Not a Cheap Date: The Real Cost of Cars" in the book Divorce Your Car: ending the love affair with the automobile by Katie Alvord. For more information on this highly informative book all about society's relationship with cars, visit: http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3683. |
|
 |