To: Gina McCarthy, EPA Administrator
The Volkswagen Scandal
Cheating the Clean Air Act is unacceptable. Make it clear that it doesn't pay to pollute by issuing a multi-billion dollar fine to Volkswagen for cheating the Clean Air Act in their supposedly "clean" diesel vehicles.
Why is this important?
Volkswagen repeatedly and intentionally cheated the Clean Air Act for the last 6 years. The company’s “clean diesel” cars included software VW installed on nearly 500,000 cars sold in the U.S. to cheat on emissions tests.
When researchers discovered that VW cars circumvented emissions regulations in 2014, the company told the EPA they fixed the problem. But we now know the problem persisted for half a million vehicles.
And the real-world results are astounding: VW cars could be emitting 15-35 times more smog-forming pollution while on the road than was showing up on their emissions tests.
And while we aren’t sure why VW cheated, we have a pretty good guess.
Experts have suggested these emission controls impacted performance, making the cars less fun to drive. When engineers couldn’t solve the problem, they decide to install a little bit of code to cheat the Clean Air Act and consumers.
One thing is clear. We’re suffering. Pennsylvania has been named the second smoggiest state in the nation by a recent report from the American Lung Association. Another recent study found that diesel vehicles a major source of Pittsburgh’s air pollution problems.
What the consequences look like for VW isn’t final. With fines reaching $36,000 per a vehicle, they could be astronomical. But, it’s important that the EPA comes down hard on VW—to protect our health and to make it clearing this kind of cheating isn’t tolerated.
When researchers discovered that VW cars circumvented emissions regulations in 2014, the company told the EPA they fixed the problem. But we now know the problem persisted for half a million vehicles.
And the real-world results are astounding: VW cars could be emitting 15-35 times more smog-forming pollution while on the road than was showing up on their emissions tests.
And while we aren’t sure why VW cheated, we have a pretty good guess.
Experts have suggested these emission controls impacted performance, making the cars less fun to drive. When engineers couldn’t solve the problem, they decide to install a little bit of code to cheat the Clean Air Act and consumers.
One thing is clear. We’re suffering. Pennsylvania has been named the second smoggiest state in the nation by a recent report from the American Lung Association. Another recent study found that diesel vehicles a major source of Pittsburgh’s air pollution problems.
What the consequences look like for VW isn’t final. With fines reaching $36,000 per a vehicle, they could be astronomical. But, it’s important that the EPA comes down hard on VW—to protect our health and to make it clearing this kind of cheating isn’t tolerated.