On Monday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against German car manufacturer, Volkswagen. The lawsuit detailed how the auto-maker would deliberately rigged their vehicles so they could cheat emissions tests. As a result, tons of millions of greenhouse gas emissions, along with other unknown particles, cause damage to the earth's atmosphere.
The DOJ acted on the behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in filing the civil suit. Nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles were alleged to have been installed with illegal defeat devices that would impair emission control systems. As a result, the emissions would exceed the standards imposed by the EPA. Apart from this cheating behavior, Volkswagen has violated the Clean Air Act when it brought these vehicles to the US market. Since these were designed differently than what had been stated in their applications for EPA certification and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), this was a clear form of deceit.
By filing a suit against the German auto-maker, the EPA is taking a vital step in protecting public health. They wish to hold Volkswagen accountable for any unlawful air pollution its vehicles managed to produce in the US. Based on estimates gathered by environmental groups, the Volkswagen cheating scandal affects about 6.8 million cars; thus resulting to at least 32.2 million tons of extra carbon pollution.
While this action from Volkswagen can be classified as consumer fraud, it does more than just harm our pockets. As a matter of fact, it could be justifiable as a crime against the climate and against the future generations. Moreover, accorrding to the Center of Biological Diversity, Volkswagen could owe as much as $25 billion in fines for the damages this action of theirs has done to the climate and air quality.
The scandal first made headlines in September when a Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act was sent by the EPA to Volkswagen and its subsidiaries. The US is decided on pursuing all appropriate remedies against the auto-maker for the violations it has caused to the country's clean air laws.
