Opinion essay: Pollution

Nowadays, climate change is a global concern. Statistics show that carbon emissions, produced for example by cars, are higher than ever before. For that reason many ecologists claim that people should be forced to travel by bicycle rather than by car for all short journeys. Personally, I believe that obligating people to use bicycles is not the way to reduce carbon emissions.

Firstly, is widely known that when governments force people to do something by law, sometimes it produces a feeling of disagreement. Furthermore, it is impossible to obligate citizens to use only a mean of transport without taking into account personal situations such as disabilities or illnesses.

On the other hand, there are several things that can be done to reduce travel pollution instead of forcing people to use only bicycles. Government can encourage for example the use of public transport and car pool companies.

Moreover, long distance travels produce much more carbon emission than short journeys. In the last decades, low cost tourism has increased the number of travellers and their carbon footprint. In addition, food miles, the distance that food travels due to globalization has also a huge environmental impact.

In conclusion, I believe that it is necessary to change not only the way people make their trips, but also the whole globalized system. If people were to change their consumption habits, pollution would be reduced in the future.