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for their wrongdoing that did not result in anyone's death It's well-established that fossil fuel emissions actually do cause many deaths due to increased canc

by NickM 11y ago

for their wrongdoing that did not result in anyone's death It's well-established that fossil fuel emissions actually do cause many deaths due to increased cancer rates and other respiratory illnesses. Burning diesel without proper emission control systems will also create larger particulate pollution which is especially detrimental to the public health. Unlike the GM case, it will be impossible to trace exactly how many premature deaths VW has contributed to, but that doesn't mean they should be punished any less harshly.

enraged_camel 11y ago
Don't forget the contribution to climate change. It's probably negligible, since the cheating VW cars make up a very small portion of cars worldwide, but it's still worth thinking about, in my opinion.
- femto113 11y ago
  It might not be that negligible--in the US alone there are were half million or so diesel VWs sold since 2009--if they are really spewing 40x the limit, then we're talking emissions equivalent to almost 20 million cars that do meet the limit. This is around 1 to 2 years of total new cars sales, or roughly 10% of the active light-duty vehicle fleet in the US.
- MagnumOpus 11y ago
  This is not about climate change. The main climate change contributor from emissions is CO2 - which relates 1:1 to fuel consumption (and how could it be otherwise). Fuel consumption is hard to fake and is tested independently all the time. What this is about is particulates and NO and NO2 - which aren't a significant contributor to climate change, but have detrimental effects such as emphysema or bronchitis in humans, acid rain or creation of surface ozone that damages lungs.
killerpopiller 11y ago
but is NOx that harmfull?
- Aloisius 11y ago
  Yes. NOx is quite bad for you. Short-term NO2 exposure is, in and of itself, harmful. In as short as 30 minutes, even healthy people will have adverse respiratory effects like airway inflammation. NOx reacts with ammonia and other compounds to form nitrate fine (PM2.5) particles that get lodged in the lungs which can cause everything from bronchitis to emphysema. NOx reacts with hydrocarbons and sunlight to create ozone which is quite damaging to your respiratory system. In the US, NOx is considered to cause upwards of 150,000 premature deaths per year - mostly from fine particles (PM2.5).

by NickM 11y ago

enraged_camel 11y ago

Don't forget the contribution to climate change. It's probably negligible, since the cheating VW cars make up a very small portion of cars worldwide, but it's still worth thinking about, in my opinion.

femto113 11y ago
It might not be that negligible--in the US alone there are were half million or so diesel VWs sold since 2009--if they are really spewing 40x the limit, then we're talking emissions equivalent to almost 20 million cars that do meet the limit. This is around 1 to 2 years of total new cars sales, or roughly 10% of the active light-duty vehicle fleet in the US.
MagnumOpus 11y ago
This is not about climate change. The main climate change contributor from emissions is CO2 - which relates 1:1 to fuel consumption (and how could it be otherwise). Fuel consumption is hard to fake and is tested independently all the time. What this is about is particulates and NO and NO2 - which aren't a significant contributor to climate change, but have detrimental effects such as emphysema or bronchitis in humans, acid rain or creation of surface ozone that damages lungs.

killerpopiller 11y ago

but is NOx that harmfull?

Aloisius 11y ago
Yes. NOx is quite bad for you. Short-term NO2 exposure is, in and of itself, harmful. In as short as 30 minutes, even healthy people will have adverse respiratory effects like airway inflammation. NOx reacts with ammonia and other compounds to form nitrate fine (PM2.5) particles that get lodged in the lungs which can cause everything from bronchitis to emphysema. NOx reacts with hydrocarbons and sunlight to create ozone which is quite damaging to your respiratory system. In the US, NOx is considered to cause upwards of 150,000 premature deaths per year - mostly from fine particles (PM2.5).