text: Reducing our use of the car would have numerous positive effects on the state of the environment around us. "Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gs emisions in Europe...and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States." (source 1) The pollution has gotten so bad in cities like Paris that they have even gone so far as to "...enforce[d] a partial driving ban to clear the air..." (Source 4) The havy car usage that we are accustomed to increases the amount of these harmful gases in the environment. "...emisions from an increasing number of private cars owned by the burgeoning middle class are choking cities." (source 1) Reducing our usage, or even completely eliminating it, would improve our environment drastically and help maintain and lower the amount of pollution in the air.