Fast Cars and a Clean Environment Essay -- Environmental Ethics Ethica

Fast Cars and a Clean Environment Many people would love the idea of having the fastest car ever or just having a speedy and sleek sports car to drive around for that matter. The idea of being able to â€Å"flex† the power of your car every time the light turns green make people long for a high-speed car. Many automakers are making faster and faster or cars with more horsepower for this demand. For instance, BMW’s E36 (1996- 1999) M3 models peaked at an amazing 234 horsepower and 226 pounds per feet of torque, but this wasn’t enough for many BMW enthusiasts. So in 2001 BMW came out with its E46 M3 model that housed an astonishing 333 horsepower and 270 pounds per feet of torque engine, which is an increase of almost 100 horsepower from the previous E36 M3 models. This dealt with the demands for faster cars (1). There is a great price for living out this dream. The earth’s already depleting supply of fossil fuel and damage to the environment, such as the ozone layer, is being further injure d from the combustion engines of cars. With the combination of more and more people learning about the environmental problems caused by combustion engines and the raised prices for gas caused by the huge demand for oil, automakers are now working on environmentally safe cars that consume less gas. Then why isn’t everyone driving an environmentally safe car right now if they know that they are killing the environment as they drive? One of the main reasons that many people have no intentions of ever purchasing these cars is simply because of the fact that these cars are known to have almost twice as less horsepower as an average car and therefore accelerate almost twice as slow. Many car enthusiasts, who love to drive fast cars, will have no reason... ...s_47915.asp 4.Karim Nice, How Fuel Cells Work, howstuffworks.com, 10 Nov. 2003, http://science.howstuffworks.com/fuel-cell.htm 5. Karim Nice, How Rotary Engines Work, howstuffworks.com, 10 Nov, 2003, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine1.htm 6. Roger Schreffler, Japan Carmakers Show Fuel Cell, H2 I.C. Concepts, Prototypes at Tokyo Motor Show, 2003, The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter, !7 Nov. 2003, http://www.hfcletter.com/letter/November03/ 7. California Clean Air Act Streamlining AB 3048 (Olberg), 2003,California Environmental Protection Agency, 17 Nov 2003, http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Legislation/1996/ab3048.htm 8. Clean Air--California's Successes and Future Challenges,2003,California Environmental Protection Agency, 17 Nov 2003, http://www.arb.ca.gov/ba/omb/50thfinal/tsld009.htm 9 . Dinan BMW, 10 Nov. 2003, http://dinancars.com/default.htm