Free Republic

Frustrated European officials alerted the US to Volkswagen's emissions cheating scam after the European Commission failed to act on the intel for years, German media reported on Friday. [...] "Officials from the EU informed the US environment group ICCT about the possible cheating on nitrogen oxide emissions," Mary Nichols, who heads the California Air Resources Board, told WirtschaftsWoche. The weekly reported that the European Commission had been told by a Volkswagen supplier of the cheating as early as in 2011. ...

After apologizing for two months, Volkswagen is finally putting its money where its mouth is, forking over $500 to VW car owners hit by its emissions cheating scandal. The payment will come in the form a gift card that can be spent anywhere. They'll also get another card worth $500 that can only be spent on purchases or services at VW or Audi dealerships, as well as free 24-hour roadside assistance for the next three years. It's the first time owners have been compensated by the German automaker, which admitted in mid-September that its cars use software designed to cheat...

Even as Volkswagen embarks on the task of fixing the emissions systems it disabled on almost 500,000 of its diesel vehicles in the United States, the automaker faces another hurdle: persuading owners to make the repair at all. That’s because the software that allowed Volkswagen to fool federal emissions tests also lowered the car’s performance and fuel economy while the device was turned on. So for owners, the prospect of having a car’s emissions cleaned up, only to have the car perform worse — whatever the pollution — is not sitting well. “If we take a 10 percent hit in...

Breese Berkowitz of Walnut Creek bought a new 2015 Passat TDI on Sept. 12 to replace an aging Toyota Prius hybrid. Her family’s other car is a plug-in Prius, and she wanted something environmentally friendly but not another plug-in because she needed a longer range. Volkswagen had been advertising its “clean diesel” technology and Berkowitz thought the Passat — the “Eco-friendly Car of the Year,” according to Cars.com — offered great gas mileage without sacrificing performance. On Sept. 18, she and everyone learned it was a fraud, that Volkswagen had installed so-called defeat devices on 11 million Volkswagen and Audi...

Volkswagen will have to make massive savings to cope with the huge cost of its emissions cheating scandal. That was the stark message delivered to more than 20,000 Volkswagen employees by the group's new chief executive, Matthias Mueller, at a meeting in Germany on Tuesday. A former Porsche chief, Mueller took over as CEO of the giant automaker after Martin Winterkorn stood down when it became clear the group had cheated emissions tests on as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide. Mueller said Volkswagen would survive, but warned the road to recovery would be painful. "We must make massive...

Two top Volkswagen engineers who found they couldn’t deliver as promised a clean diesel engine for the U.S. market are at the center of a company probe into the installation of engine software designed to fool regulators, according to people familiar with the matter. The two men, Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi ’s chief engineer, and Wolfgang Hatz, developer of Porsche’s Formula One and Le Mans racing engines, were among the engineers suspended in the investigation of the emissions cheating scandal that sank the company’s market value by 43% since Sept. 18 and triggered a world-wide recall to refit the engines to...

WOLFSBURG, Germany—Two top Volkswagen engineers who found they couldn’t deliver as promised a clean diesel engine for the U.S. market are at the center of a company probe into the installation of engine software designed to fool regulators, according to people familiar with the matter. The two men, Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi ’s chief engineer, and Wolfgang Hatz, developer of Porsche’s winning Formula One engines, were among the engineers suspended in the investigation of the emissions cheating scandal that sank the company’s market value by 43% since Sept. 18 and triggered a world-wide recall to refit the engines to meet clear-air...

The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half-million cars, saying the automaker illegally installed software in its diesel-power cars to evade standards for reducing smog. The Environmental Protection Agency accused the German automaker of using software to detect when the car is undergoing its periodic state emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars’ full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as allowed under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said. “We expected better...

FRANKFURT — Martin Winterkorn resigned as chief executive of Volkswagen Wednesday, taking responsibility for an emissions cheating scandal that has gravely damaged the carmaker’s reputation and may spread to the German economy. “As C.E.O. I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines,” Mr. Winterkorn, who had headed the company since 2007, said in a statement. But he continued to insist he personally committed no misconduct. “I am not aware of any wrong doing on my part.”

BERLIN— Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday in the wake of a developing emissions scandal that has stunned the auto industry and slashed the car maker’s market value. “Volkswagen needs a fresh start—also in terms of personnel,” Mr. Winterkorn said. “I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation.” Mr. Winterkorn said that he accepted responsibility for the irregularities found in diesel engines and has asked the supervisory board to agree to his stepping down. He said, however, that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing on his part.

There are so many minor stories that are embarrassing to liberals to blog about this afternoon, it’s hard to choose just one. Should I blog the fact that gutless Hillary Clinton waited for the Pope’s arrival to dump the news that she’s taking the predictable orthodox left-wing position on the Keystone Pipeline? Should I blog about left-wing writers being so stupid that they don’t realize the word “retarded” has a non-slur definition? Or should I blog the fact that America’s been planning the Pope’s visit for months and somehow Obama still couldn’t quite get to the airport on time? When...

The Heartland Institute published a very revealing article about Leftist shock jock Naomi Klein who just published a new anti-capitalst screed entitled This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Essentially, Ms. Klein admits that the issue of climate change (formerly known as global warming) is not about science but really about overthrowing capitalism. “Our economic model is at war with the Earth,” writes Klein. “We cannot change the laws of nature. But we can change our economy. Climate change is our best chance to demand and build a better world.” The Heartland article goes on to say: For the author,...

President Obama is surreptitiously colluding with radical anti-growth environmentalists to force ideologically driven carbon-emission controls on the energy industry that will devastate the U.S. economy, congressional investigators have discovered. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drew up rules aimed at limiting carbon emissions from power-generation plants, "key stakeholders — including the American public — had little to no influence over the debate while powerful environmental activist groups were given unprecedented access to and influence over administration officials," the Washington Times reported yesterday. Collusion between the EPA and the green's isn't exactly breaking news. They've been doing it for years, but...

Obama to mandate steeper emissions cuts from U.S. Power Plants The expansion of the federal government, and more specifically the expansion of the executive branch, has been the daunting storyline of the Barack Obama administration, be it taking control of the auto industry; inserting heavy federal regulations on the banking and credit industries; hijacking the health care industry with Obamacare (and modifying the law through executive orders when legislative authorities belongs to Congress); gun control measures; seizing control of the internet through an expansive reach of the FCC; declaring its own definition of marriage through a Supreme Court judicial ruling;...

The EPA may be making some major changes to its carbon dioxide emissions regulatory scheme, the details of which have been leaked to the media just days ahead of its expected release date. The EPA will be getting rid of its energy efficiency building block of its Clean Power Plan over legal concerns the agency was overstepping its bounds by controlling how efficiently people used their electricity, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Journal also reported the Clean Power Plan will encourage nuclear power production. An EPA spokeswoman would not confirm the reported changes to the rule as it has...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signaled in a letter to President Obama that his state might not comply with a forthcoming rule limiting carbon emissions from power plants. The likely GOP presidential candidate told Obama in the May 21 letter that he has "deep concerns regarding our ability to develop a state plan to comply with" the proposed Environmental Protection Agency targets. The implicit threat makes Walker the highest-profile governor to consider endorsing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's strategy of undercutting the regulation through states refusing to submit a compliance plan, though he ultimately stopped short of doing so. "The...

Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to bring down emissions to 40% below 1990 levels, in the next 15 years. The US state was already one of the most ambitious in its previous targets and has forced companies to pay for their carbon pollution. Mr Brown said the new target must be met for the sake of future generations. He called the plan "the most aggressive benchmark enacted by any government in North America to reduce dangerous carbon emissions". There were few details about how he intends to meet this target, but the governor has previously talked about increasing...

OSLO, April 13 (Reuters) - China is poised to overtake the United States as the main cause of man-made global warming since 1990, the benchmark year for U.N.-led action, in a historic shift that may raise pressure on Beijing to act. China's cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, when governments were becoming aware of climate change, will outstrip those of the United States in 2015 or 2016, according to separate estimates by experts in Norway and the United States. The shift, reflecting China's stellar economic growth, raises questions about historical blame for rising temperatures and more floods, desertification, heatwaves and...

Climate Change: President Obama's proposal to cut U.S. emissions by 28% over 10 years as America's contribution to a global climate treaty will devastate our economy while doing nothing to reduce temperatures. The "Clean Power Plan" that the Obama administration submitted Tuesday to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change met an end-of-March deadline for contributions to a treaty in the final stages of negotiations. But the proposal, known to climate negotiators as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, isn't new. Obama announced the goal of reducing emissions by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 as part of a joint climate...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is directing the federal government to cut its emissions of heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. Obama will sign an executive order targeting greenhouse gases at the White House on Thursday. The White House says a number of major companies that sell to the federal government will also announce commitments to cut their emissions.