"The day that mankind realizes that their creations destroy the true beauty of mother nature it will be too late." This quote by one of our nations greatest political and environmental activists, Irvin Green, directly applies to the topic of reducing pollution. One simple, yet extremly effective way to reduce pollution is limiting the transportation methods we travel by. Limiting car and vehicle usage can reduce pollution, nearly eliminate accidents, and makes the road a safer place.

In many places such as Germany, Paris, and Columbia, many ambitious ideas are being put into play to help battle pollution. In the article, "In German Suburb, Life Goes On Without Cars", it is stated that in Vauban Germany, 70 percent of families do not own vehicles. The other 30% that do, do not have a place to park them, making them basically useless. Residents in Vauban have stopped their need for transportation, making malls and stores a walk away. In this new approach, pollution has drastically reduced in numbers and has made it a much safer and cleaner place to live.

The usage of vehicles are a double-edged sword. They may get us to where we need to go with plenty of time to spare, but what are we really loosing because of it? What we are loosing is the environment and also our health. In Paris, the pollution rate almost reached a new record high, thus forcing the partial driving pan to clear the air of the global city. In the article, "Paris bans driving due to smog", its evident that cars hurt us in more ways then we realize. Buisnesses are suffering due to the lack of transportaion avaliable to delivery their services as seen in source number two, "Delivery companies complained of lost revenue". "Congestion was down 60% in the capital of france after five-days of intesifying smog..." The smog was so dense that Paris officials created a law making even-numbered license plates to leave there cars at home to reduce pollution. With half of the normal amount of cars driving, it almost elimated the total accident rate, making the road a safer place to be.

Despite the benefits that come along with transportation, there are more disadvanges then advantages. Pollution is the second largest source of America's emissions just behind power plants. Many sociologist have seen these statistics and have also noticed that American transportation usuage has slowly been declining since its peak in 2005. People are slowly but surely helping the cause in their own ways, whether its by delaying getting there license, limit there driving, or even car-pooling with friends. Limiting car and vehicle usage can reduce pollution, nearly eliminate accidents, and makes the road a safer place to be.