Transportation pollution in New York City

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Research Paper

I became interested in the New York City public transportation after reading several articles about it. As we know, New York City is one of the most famous and most populated cities in the U.S. This makes the city more likely to be more polluted in the future. One of the sources of the pollution in New York is transportation pollution. New York City has lots of cars, trucks and buses. These vehicles immense amounts of smoke and dangerous gases, which can affect the environment and human health. Basically, this is because of the use of traditional gases such as diesel and gasoline. This paper argues Federal Government as well as New York City officials should work to protect the city and its people from pollution. The government should take care of the environmental situation in the city. The government should start first to use natural gas in the city so as to encourage everybody else to use it as the government does. Secondly, the government should start to make trucks and buses in New York City work by natural gas instead of oil and diesel. Moreover, the government should create incentives for projects which use natural gas instead of traditional fuel, through their production process, for example, a 5-year tax exemption. Insurance companies and driver’s license departments should charge the owners of private cars, taxies and trucks the New York officials should make the natural gas more available to use than other fuels in the markets. Also more research should be done, especially on the average age for the natural gas and generation of other fuels.

There are many advantages if we use the natural gas instead of other traditional fuels and there are many disadvantages if we use the traditional fuels. New York City government has many things to do to make the public more interested in using natural gas in transportation than diesel, at the same time to make many people live with clean environment from pollution.

There are many advantages if we use the natural gas instead of other traditional fuels. First, natural gas is cleaner than other kinds of fuels that we use in transportation. According to P.W. Huber (2005, p. 5), “Natural gas buses (CNG) are cleaner than diesel”. And also, according to Atmos Energy Corporation (2002, p. 16), “Because natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, it can help improve the quality of air and water when used in place of more-polluting energy sources”. In fact, New York City will be in serious danger if we have air pollution, which comes from transportation. As a result, natural gas is the best power for the transportation that does not cause high levels of pollution. According to G. Robinson (2005, p. 3), “Many New York activists and politicians have put much of their recent efforts into trying to save federal clean air regulations. Failing to do so, they believe, puts the health of New Yorkers and the very future of the city at risk". Air pollution in New York could create many health problems and risks. According to G.T. Miller, Jr (1996, p. 125), “According to EPA and the American Lung Association, air pollution cost the United States at least $150 billion annually in health care and lost work productivity, with $100 billion of that caused by indoor air pollution”.

There are many things that should be done about using natural gas in the transportation system. The first step is that the government should start first to use natural gas in the city. So, everybody else will start to use natural gas as the government does. According to P.W. Huber (2005, p. 19), “Natural gas is the cleanest burning alternative transportation fuel available today. Long recognized as an excellent fuel when used to generate electricity, heat homes, and fuel industrial facilities, the true ability of natural gas as a transportation fuel only recently has been exploited”. The government in New York can use the natural gas in many federal places and in much federal transportation such as in the public buses, public places such as streets lights, and police cars. So, the people in New York City will be more interested in following the government idea.

The second step is that the government should start to make trucks and buses in New York City work by natural gas instead of oil and diesel. According to M. Bluejay (2005, p. 7) “a CNG bus is either cheaper to operate or about the same as a diesel bus and is really just a bus, but cleaner. In fact, nominally CNG buses cost about $300--$325 k (each) while conventional diesels cost about $250 k--$275k”. If we make comparison between natural gas and diesel power in trucks, we will find that natural gas is cleaner and cheaper than other kinds. According to Huber (2005, p. 15), “the fuel cycle emissions of natural gas are much less than other transportation fuels”. And also, it's much quieter than diesel. Moreover, the government should provide incentives for more projects to use natural gas instead of traditional gas, for example, a 5-year tax exemption. In fact, the people in New York and in the other places in the world are looking for the best deal and the cheapest prices, especially if this deal will be in gas prices. This is one of the significant ideas to make people more likely to use the natural gas. M. Vaughan (2005, p. 13) says, “We believe that our natural gas products will be cheaper overall than "clean diesel" products by 2010. Natural gas is attractive to countries and customers concerned about oil supply and climate change (for which there's no good wide-scale solution except a switch to natural gas) and the environmental benefits are clear”. The third point is natural gas is much quieter than other kinds of fuels. So, many trucks will able to use natural gas and many people can live with clean air.

One of the fastest ways to push the people to use the natural gas instead of others is the insurance companies and the drivers, license department. They should charge the public cars and taxies a penalty, if they do not use the natural gas in their cars. The government can make the natural gas cheaper than other traditional fuels and make the natural gas more available in the markets. In fact, the people always like to use the thing that is more common for them; they do not like to try new things especially if this thing is a new kind of fuel, because they are scared to use it in their own cars, but if the government starts to use the natural gas, then step by step the public will get used to using natural gas in the car.

One of the disadvantages of New York City is noise pollution. There is a big difference between natural gas fuel and other kinds of fuels. In fact, natural gas can make less sound than other fuels in most cases, because natural gas does not make very much noise. So, we can begin to try to reduce some of the New York City workplace noise. According to G. Robinson (2005, p. 20), “noise pollution human-created noise is harmful to health or welfare. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders, with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles, and motorcycles all producing excessive noise”. In fact, we all know how much noise can bother us and make so much stress when we are sleeping or studying for the test. So, natural gas can solve this problem.


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Natural gas is applicable now almost everywhere in the world. According to Michael Vaughan (2005, p. 15), “NGVs natural gas vehicles are in use around the world and have an excellent safety record”. Natural gas can be used in the transportation area to cut down on these high levels of pollution from diesel- powered cars, trucks, and buses. “NGVs are here today and have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to surpass even the most demanding new emission requirements. These vehicles are not prototype vehicles, but rather are production line vehicles ready for freedom now. NGVs come in a variety of makes and models trucks and buses” (Canadian Corporate Newswire, 2005 p. 8). Since natural gas is available in every major world market, we have to use it as soon as possible. Looking to the future as transportation technologies continue to evolve, we can use natural gas as a source of energy for fuel cells between the other countries instead of diesel. Natural gas must play a critical and growing role to solve the transportation pollution problem. According to Atmos Energy Corporation (2002, p. 14), “Almost one-half of the 50 states have large deposits of natural gas, but just five states have one-half of the U.S. reserves: Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Currently, no Alaskan gas is being transported to the lower-48 states”.

The last point is that pollution causes global warming which raises the temperature and then causes many serious health problems for both humans and animals. According to Gail Robinson (2005, p. 16), “many of the effects on New York would be far from benign. For example, an increase in temperature of just one degree could cause heat related deaths to more than double to almost 700 a year. And the four-degree jump would cause the already unhealthy levels of ozone to rise, since heat contributes to the production of ozone in the lower atmosphere”. According to Seana Lanigan (2005, p. 3), “The structure of European natural gas markets, like electricity, is undergoing a process of change. For some this represents a revolutionary process of reform while for others it is an evolutionary process. European Union (EU) legislation is forcing many countries to break up state monopolies and introduce at least a degree of competition into their domestic markets. As a result of legislation the hope is that competition will extend internationally with the ultimate end result of lower consumer prices while ensuring security of supply is maintained”. Moreover, many scientists believe that there is ozone in the world. G.T. Miller, Jr (1996, p. 118) says, “The scientific consensus is that we have to stop producing ozone depleting chemicals now. After saying no, we will still have to wait about 100 years for the ozone layer to return to 1985 levels, and another 100-200 years for full recovery”. In fact, the ozone hole is threatening people’s lives. According to Gail Robinson (2005, p. 14), “almost all scientists agree create global warming. In the late 1990s, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that, in the next 100 years, temperatures in New York could rise by four degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and spring and even more in the summer and fall”. The earth is the only one that we have we do not have another place to live, so we have; to clean the earth from any kind of pollution. This is because if we pollute very much, then it will be very difficult to fix and to solve the pollution problems in the world.

* Bibliography:

Atmos Energy Corporation. (2002, July 26).What is natural gas? The Spirit of Service. Retrieved on 11/29/2005 from http://www.atmosenergy.com/about/gas/.

Bluejay, M. (n.d). Pollution caused by cars. Bicycle universe info. Retrieved on November 25, 2005 from http://bicycleuniverse.info/cars/pollution.html.

California State Lands Commission. (2005). Article 6. Pollution Control. Retrieved on November 29, 2005 from http://www.slc.ca.gov/Regulations/Article_6_Pollution_Control.htm.


Underwood, J. D. (2005, May 5). NYC needs natural-gas refuse trucks. Newsday. Retrieved on Oct. 25, 2005 from: Lexis Nexis:

Vaughan, M. (2005, April 28). Natural Gas: The Route to a 'Clean Air Corridor'. Westport Innovations Inc. Retrieved on 11/29/2005 from http://www.westport.com/news/view.php?table=tLArticle&id=84&return_to=media.php.