American Society Without Internal Combustion Engines

Imagining the modern American society without the internal combustion engine is like thinking of the United States without the Eastern Interconnection Power Grid. Modern Transportation is such a vital part of life in Western civilizations that there is no way to live without it. First world societies have glorified the use of fossil fuels and combustion engines which emit greenhouse gasses into the Earth’s atmosphere. In addition to the high amount of greenhouse gas emissions, humans are using up fossil fuels at an alarming rate. It is pivotal that humans find a to achieve sustainable, zero emission transportation. Convincing a population to switch over to zero emission transportation will be a challenge on many levels. Transferring from conventional cars to fully electric cars is a viable and necessary action to help preserve Earth and to achieve sustainable transportation.
Vehicles that are equipped with an internal combustion engine, or ICE, use gasoline and diesel to power the engine. The reason these vehicles are used over any other kind of highway vehicles is because of how good they are at what they do. “Internal combustion engines produce outstanding driveability and durability¨ (Energy.gov, Internal Combustion Engine Basics). The internal combustion engine gets the job done and, with common knowledge, repair shops, and dealerships everywhere, ICEs are easy to maintain. (Energy.gov, Internal Combustion Engine