Look into the history of why that’s the law as well as what VW *actually* did and you may change your mind on that. Would you want an un-fixed Pinto or one of the brake-hydraulics-catching-on-fire Fords parked in your garage, or next to you when you’re stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and can’t move?
It’s also worth noting that when an American company tried to use the same tech solution that VW was using (and lying about the results to the EPA) with, they were unable to bring their diesel engines into compliance. They were hit with a multimillion dollar fine, the company almost went out of business and literally thousands of people were laid off. Hundreds of engineers were besmirched by the failure (”Ha, ha, VW is smarter than you!”) and many were forced out of the industry.
Turns out that VW lied, and Americans were *directly* harmed. People lost *everything.* It seems you *can’t* meet those emissions standards with just an EGR system. (There was a competing system called DEF that does work and is what everyone else adopted.) Being proved right won’t restore Navistar’s industry position, it won’t get their people their jobs back, and it will take years for their engineers to get their rep back, if they ever do.
Think VW needs to be allowed to get away with it?
The question instead should be, do I even believe current EPA standards are necessary?
The answer is no. Yep, VW lied straight up and down... to get around EPA regs.
I’ll get on board with taking VW down as long as we take the EPA down with them.
Let’s put this argument in another perspective:
Car engines have been burning substantially clean and efficient in this country for decades now. We’re as clean as we need to be. We need cheaper cars and cheaper gas. Not more environmental regs.
So this is a case of law vs ethics vs morality.
Law broken?
Yes.
Ethics broken?
Only so far as the direct advertising to consumers. The cars themselves are very desirable and have good specs.
Morality violated?
Christ would never approve of lying, even to a corrupt government, even for a good cause.
So... who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?
If we want JUSTICE out of all this, then we need to equally address the EPA regs that don’t allow us to have efficient diesel vehicles at the same time we slap VW down for deception.
Otherwise, it’s the greater evil shaking down the lesser evil for money and political power. There’s no long term gain for any normal person from that.