Could it be that cars actually help the environment?

Now, I'm not a scientist, and I don't have any hard numbers on this. This only comes from my own observations and logic.

My car gets 35 to 40 miles per gallon on the highway. I don't have some imported gas/electric hybrid. I have a good ole American Chevy Malibu with a 200 horsepower V-6, and I still get 40 MPG.

I have never tested this, but I seriously doubt that I would be able to run 40 miles on just one gallon of food and water, and I certainly wouldn't be able to run at 65 miles per hour. I don't think anyone could accomplish that feat. What? Could it be that an automobile is more efficient than the human body?

I know what you're going to say, that cars pollute the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses. Yes, but so does the human body. While exercising, or even just laying around, the human body produces Carbon Dioxide and Methane gas. Both of these are greenhouse gasses and the human body produces them constantly. At least a car only pollutes when it is in use. And when the car is in use, it is more efficient than our bodies. There's a reason we switched from the horse and buggy to cars: cars are cleaner.

But don't panic over all the pollution we humans, and all animals, produce. Nature was created with mechanisms to maintain homeostasis. All the Carbon Dioxide and Methane we produce gets absorbed and put to use. All the pollutants released by a volcanic eruption are also cleaned up. Through the billions of years of life, nature has been able to work through drastic climate change, meteor impacts, earthquakes, droughts, volcanoes, et cetera. Our cars are not going to kill it.

–J.E. Heath
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