Nature would benefit if gasoline prices were 10 US per liter and people would stop to drive around senselessly. (I know the geographic circumstances make this impossible, but nevertheless...).
How is defrauding consumers a "US vs Germany issue" and nothing else?
Also VW got off with a slap on the wrist here.
The US did nothing wrong here. People don't drive around needlessly, they drive because they live in places that often have no viable alternative. Why on earth should they be punished?
Your comments are bizarre and naive. Is you point just anti-Americanism?
1- GM, Ford, Chrysler lobby congress to enact the strictest NOX limits in the world. While at the same time having lenient limits on other exhaust fumes killing thousands of people every year, so that we can continue our gas guzzling SUV and Pickup truck craze.
2- VW faced wtih dilemma. Stop selling diesels altogether, or go rogue and yolo your way through emission tests.
3- Get caught and fined.
Well played, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. GM, Ford, and Chrysler were behind in Diesel tech, so this as a great defensive move to thwart Japanase and European automotive competition.
Moral of the story is: You need good lobbyists if you wanna be successful here.
In the meantime, some smart scientist notice that the exhaust from fracking is pretty poisonous and sometimes even radioactive... (lots of fracking wells release more radioactivity than highly regulated nuclear power plants).
Thank god the big oil lobby massages congress to enact legislation that naturally bound pollution released through fracking/digging/drilling does not count.
That is pure conspiracy theory. Please provide evidence of such lobbying and refute me. Until then its conspiracy theory.
Do you know that Volkswagen has a plant in Chatanooga, TN that employs many American and that Ford Motor Company has a plant in Cologne, Germany that employs many Germans right? It's not the 1970s any more. Nobody is trying shut anyone out of the American market.
I'm critical b/c I think 'defrauding consumers' in this case doesn't deserve a 15 billion 'slap on the wrist' (which will hinder innovation and affect jobs here - VW could have spent this money on the development of electric cars).
When hearing such numbers, yes maybe I am 'America-critical'. But it's not only in this case. E.g. recently I cannot understand how someone can sucessfully sue for $10,000 upon being forced to upgrade to Windows 10? Or, more fundamentally, how 'a country' can e.g. put Chelsea Manning behind bars for 35 (!) years? (She is an American hero for me).
Nature would benefit if gasoline prices were 10 US per liter and people would stop to drive around senselessly. (I know the geographic circumstances make this impossible, but nevertheless...).