Most people agree that the uses of fuel should be reduced to some extent and opposing a higher price is one way to do it. It seems to me that increase petrols price is not the most effective solution to congested traffic and pollutions, and I will explain why in this essay.

Firstly, higher price does not equal lower consumption. Examples can be seen in countries such as France or Italy, where increase in price has apparently not reduced the demand for such fuel. In these cases, the effect has been to force people to pay more for the same volume of energy, which appears to penalize those who can least afford it. Moreover, there seems to be difficulty in government promising renewable energy scheme without interfering in the entire market. If the state was to control the entire market of petrol, this would force suppliers to leave the market, thus reducing the competition and efficiency. Finally, higher fuel cost might affect the economy. By this we means that increase in petrol price will lead to higher transportation cost in general such as trucking or sea freight, thus creating more disadvantages for the export industry of the country.

Admittedly, there are some positives to increasing the price of petrol, notably the amount of taxes raised to subside renewable energy projects. Despite this, it seems that the advantages are outweighed by the issues faced by consumers.

To tackle these problems, it seems to need a combination of solutions, ranging from encouraging the uses of public transport to promote renewable energy scheme.

In conclude, it seems unreasonable to force vulnerable consumers to pay more for a commodity which is essential to them without the infrastructure for renewable energy being in place. It would be more logical to improve availability of renewables first, which would allow customers to make a genuine choice.