Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
The most effective way for the government to conserve energy is to increase the price of gasoline and electricity.
政府是否该提高汽油和用电的价格以保护资源。不同的人都不同的看法。
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Some people believe that government should never intervene in the markets. However, this is not always true in some cases. In order to conserve energy, the government should definitely increase the price of gasoline and electricity.
Because most people cannot afford to pay for increases in the prices of these commodities, they will have to conserve what energy they use. In fact, this measure will serve to make people more responsible in their energy expenditures. For example, raising the price of gas will make people drives less often. Instead of driving to nearby places, they might walk or ride bicycle. They will become more energy-conscious because of the price increases. This will cause people to become wiser when consuming energy, which naturally results in more energy conserved.
An increase in energy prices will force people to seek cheaper forms of energy. They will try to develop other sources of energy, such as renewable ones, that they can use at less cost. My house uses solar energy but only to heat the water. If electricity prices become too expensive, perhaps we might come to use solar energy to heat the entire house, not just the water. Necessity is the mother of invention, and expensive energy prices will spark the creation of newer, cheaper forms of energy.
Thanks to the extra money the government raises in taxes on energy consumption, people will benefit as well. The government should put that tax money to good use by paying for projects that will help local citizens. It could construct more bike lanes since people might be riding bicycles more often. Or it could spend the money on other projects so long as they help citizens cope with the increased price of energy. Projects like more bike lanes would be good, civic-minded uses of tax money, which can be another method to save energy.
In conclusion, I feel that raising the price of gasoline and electricity would definitely help conserve energy, spark the development of new forms of energy, and enable the government to spend more money to benefit people. The limited supply of energy really leaves the government with no choice but to raise its price.
Governments sometimes try to impose price regulations, but these always end in disaster. I oppose any attempt at governmental interference by artificially raising the prices of gasoline and electricity since it will not help conserve energy at all.
Even if the government raises the price of energy, it is highly unlikely that people will begin conserving it in a bid to save money. All throughout history, prices have increased on many products, but that has not stopped people from using them. This is clear simply by looking at recent increases in the price of oil. Despite seemingly setting record highs every week, most people have not curbed their energy-consuming habits. People are still driving as much as always. Increasing the price of energy will therefore take money out of people's pockets and give it to the government without any practical effect on conserving energy.
Another point of consideration is that an increase in the price of energy will make most people angry-that is all. The majority of people are simply unaware as to how much energy they consume. So, after a brief period of anger, they will get used to the high prices, and they resume using lots of energy. A famous example of this is the 1970s gasoline crisis in America. As the price of gas increased, many people bought small, fuel-economy cars. Later, once the crisis ended, people went back to big, gas-guzzling cars. Expecting that raising the price of energy will cause people to conserve energy is a mistake.
Any attempt to increase the price of gasoline and electricity will be viewed as an unfair attempt to tax people out of their money. People often feel that the government taxes them too much, and they will not appreciate what would be regarded as a huge energy tax. Newspapers often have editorials complaining about governmental waste. The government cannot account for a lot of the people's tax money, so most citizens will not want to trust the government with even more of their hard-earned money. People will never think the government raises the price of energy to conserve it.
It seems obvious that raising the price of gasoline and electricity is a bad idea and will not lead to conservation; instead, it will anger a large number of people and be considered an unfair and excessive energy tax. There are many ways to conserve energy, but raising its price is not one of them.
