GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文十三

　　13. While nearly everyone would agree in principle that certain efforts to preserve the

　　natural environment are in humankinds best interest, environmental issues always

　　involve a tug of war among conflicting political and economic interests. For this reason,

　　and because serious environmental problems are generally large in scale, government

　　participation is needed to ensure environmental preservation.

　　Experience tells us that individuals tend to act on behalf of their own short-term economic and political interest,

　　not on behalf of the environment or the public at large. For example, current technology

　　makes possible the complete elimination of polluting emissions from automobiles.

　　Nevertheless, neither automobile manufacturers nor consumers are willing or able to

　　voluntarily make the short-term sacrifices necessary to accomplish this goal. Only the

　　government holds the regulatory and enforcement power to impose the necessary

　　standards and to ensure that we achieve such goats.

　　Aside from the problems of self-interest and enforcement, environmental issues

　　inherently involve public health and are far too pandemic in nature for individuals to

　　solve on their own. Many of the most egregious environmental violations traverse state

　　and sometimes national borders. Environmental hazards are akin to those involving

　　food and drug safety and to protecting borders against enemies; individuals have neither

　　the power nor the resources to address these widespread hazards.

　　In the final analysis, only the authority and scope of power that a government

　　possesses can ensure the attainment of agreed-upon environmental goals. Because

　　individuals are incapable of assuming this responsibility, government must do so.