Introduction
Climate change has been affecting the environment drastically, causing numerous habitats to be disrupted or destroyed, and multiple species to become endangered or face extinction. Caused primarily by the rise in the use of fossil fuels as the direct outcome of the increase in the performance across all industries due to globalization, climate change can be managed and delayed to a certain extent. However, for this purpose, the use of fossil fuels as the primary source of energy must be revisited, with the following change toward an environmentally safer option. For the EU to combat climate change successfully by limiting fuel-powered transportation, the organization must introduce policies and regulations that encourage citizens to use hybrid vehicles instead (Frey, 2018). Additionally, cost-effective options for purchasing hybrid vehicles must be provided to citizens so that they could comply with the set policies without facing an economic crisis.
Limiting Fuel-Powered Transportation: Options and Expected Outcomes
When considering the options for limiting the extent of the usage of fuel-powered vehicles, one should pay attention to the use of personal vehicles and the propensity among most citizens to prefer diesel cars as opposed to hybrid ones (Carlucci et al., 2018). Therefore, the importance of opting for green transportation methods among citizens must be conveyed to the target audiences properly, which can be achieved by introducing new policies limiting the use of diesel cars.
Role of EU in Limiting Fuel-Powered Transportation
Remarkably, the EU has already contributed quite profusely to the management of the climate change process, specifically, the problem of CO2 emissions produced by fuel-powered transportation. Namely, the EU has released several crucial regulations that restrict the extent of harmful emissions, while also promoting the use of green energy and, particularly, the transfer to the use of hybrid vehicles across Europe. Specifically, the strategy aimed at demonstrating alternative solutions to the use of fossil fuels as the source of energy for transportation has been implemented successfully in most European countries (Bel & Joseph, 2018). As a result, a plan for transferring to an environmentally safe framework for public transportation has been created by the EU (Bel & Joseph, 2018). Given the presence of achievable and measurable goals in the specified plan, it could be assumed that it is likely to be implemented by the set deadline of 2025 (Bel & Joseph, 2018).
However, the current strategy accepted by the EU could use certain improvement since, while targeting the public transportation quite effectively, it is still not enough to convince the owners of private fuel-powered vehicles to transfer to the use of hybrid ones. Indeed, although public transportation constitutes a large part of the general CO2 emission rate, personal vehicles still contribute vastly to the problem as well. Therefore, regulations for the responsible use of personal vehicles and the preference for hybrid cars as opposed to diesel ones must be communicated to EU citizens.
To address the rise in CO2 emissions caused by the active usage of fuel-powered vehicles, the EU may consider introducing policies that will limit their use. These policies should primarily focus on repercussions for contributing to climate change, namely, the application of fines to the owners of the specified type of vehicles. Furthermore, policies that will provide cost-efficient opportunities for purchasing hybrid cars for citizens must be introduced so that people could transfer to an environmentally safer transportation mode easier.
Since the described regulation is likely to receive significant pushback from citizens due to high prices for green cars, the EU should also incorporate legal standards that will allow people to purchase hybrid cars for a lower price. The proposed measure should also be introduced in a way that will not affect the performance of companies producing hybrid cars, which is why state funding must be provided to support the purchase of hybrid cars and their further use. Additionally, the importance of transferring to the use of hybrid cars must be conveyed to the target population by creating a series of PSAs targeted at general audiences and encouraging them to consider using hybrid cars instead of diesel-powered ones. Thus, people will not be merely forced to comply with a newly created set of rules enforced on them for a reason unknown to them but, instead, a series of legitimate solutions to an obvious problem. By creating awareness and promoting responsibility among the target demographic, the EU will be able to facilitate the transfer to the use of hybrid vehicles as opposed to fuel-based transportation.
Conclusion
In order to delay the threat of climate change until a solution is developed, the U must introduce policies that will limit the ability of citizens to use fuel-powered transportation. The stated change will be implemented by introducing more rigid fines for private owners of said vehicle types, offering cost-efficient options for the purchase of hybrid cars, and changing the public transportation framework toward the use of hybrid vehicles. Although the specified innovation will demand a large number of financial resources, it will be especially helpful in the long term since the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by vehicles powered by fossil fuels will be minimized.
References
Bel, G., & Joseph, S. (2018). Climate change mitigation and the role of technological change: Impact on selected headline targets of Europe’s 2020 climate and energy package. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 3798-3807. Web.
Carlucci, F., Cirà, A., & Lanza, G. (2018). Hybrid electric vehicles: Some theoretical considerations on consumption behaviour.Sustainability, 10(4), 1302. Web.
Frey, H. C. (2018). Trends in onroad transportation energy and emissions.Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 68(6), 514-563. Web.