Some People Believe That One Of The Best Ways To Solve Environmental Problems Is To Increase The Cost Of Fuel | Band 9 IELTS Essay Sample

Some people believe that one of the best ways to solve environmental problems is to increase the cost of fuel for cars and other vehicles. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Here is a band 9 IELTS essay on this topic. Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, letters and reports corrected by me.

Band 9 IELTS essay sample

According to some people, increasing the cost of fuel will reduce environmental issues to a great extent. I do not agree with this view because oil is not the only pollutant. Also, the price hike will only affect poor people who hardly own cars. The rich who own cars will continue to buy oil and hence this measure is unlikely to reduce air pollution.

No doubt, vehicles pollute the air. They release harmful gases responsible for global warming. So, obviously, increasing the price of fuel should reduce pollution levels as it will discourage people from using their private cars. In reality, however, this is unlikely to happen because poor people who will be affected the most by this measure do not own cars in the first place. The rich people who own cars will continue to buy oil regardless of the hike in price. Consequently, we will not see any drastic reduction in the number of vehicles on the roads. At the same time, this price hike will increase transportation costs and thus make all commodities more expensive. In short, any rise in the price of oil will only make life miserable for the poor and will not achieve any improvement in air quality.

In addition, vehicles are not the only cause of environmental problems. Factories pollute just as much as vehicles. Even household appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators release green house gases. Livestock is another major cause of global warming as they release greenhouse gases when they digest food. A hike in the price of fuel cannot stop these other agents responsible for air pollution. A better solution is to switch to green energies and electric cars. Of course, this will involve enormous upfront costs but in the long term, they will reverse environmental damage to a great extent.

To conclude, hiking the price of petrol is unlikely to stop global warming as this measure cannot achieve any noticeable reduction in the number of vehicles on the roads. A more viable solution is to invest in green technologies.

Band 7 IELTS essay sample

The emission of greenhouse gases has caused many environmental problems in the recent era. Some people think that increasing the fuel prices for light and heavy vehicles can resolve this issue. I strongly disagree with this assertion and believe that dependence on renewable energy and buying electric cars are other alternatives.

To begin with, humans have heavily relied on non-renewable energy for a long time. This has resulted in many issues such as air pollution, climate change, and global warming concerning the environment. Switching to renewable energy will lead to minimal release of carbon in the atmosphere. In Australia, for instance, the government has started producing renewable energy which has saved plenty of natural resources and reduced their carbon footprint. Thus, investing more on infrastructure to build renewable energy stations can reduce the impact on the planet.

Additionally, any increase in the cost of fuel will have a domino effect on the economy. When fuel becomes costlier, the cost of living will increase because increased transportation costs will make every commodity more expensive. At the same time, this measure will have no real impact on the rich people who own most of the private vehicles. They will continue to use their cars while the poor will have to cope with an increase in public transport fare.

To conclude, increasing the price of fuel is unlikely to solve environmental issues. Worse still, it will create additional problems by increasing the price of all commodities.

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Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.