VW Scandal: Can Anyone Still Doubt the Need for Regulation?

by Robert Verchick

September 22, 2015

Center for Progressive Reform President Robert R.M. Verchick issued the following statement today in response to the burgeoning Volkswagen emissions scandal:

With the Volkswagen emissions scandal, hard on the heels of the GM settlement, can anyone doubt the importance of strong regulation and tough enforcement? One automotive giant let a safety problem fester for a decade while more than 120 people died as a result. Another conspired to cheat on state emissions tests, pumping outrageous loads of pollution into the air we breathe so that they could make their cars peppier, and advertise them as such. We hear conservatives say all the time that regulation is unnecessary because the market is self-correcting. The scope of these scandals proves just the opposite: We need vigorous regulation and enforcement to keep Americans safe from companies that think they can increase their profits by endangering us all.

Tagged as: VW
Mind blowing-- software that would only turn on when the vehicle was being smog-tested. When it was off, the vehicle could put out more than 40 times the pollution when on the road.
— Tadd Perkins
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Also from Robert Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick holds the Gauthier ~ St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University, New Orleans, is the Faculty Director of the Center for Environmental Law at Loyola, and is a Senior Fellow in Disaster Resilience Leadership, Tulane University. He is the President of the Center for Progressive Reform.

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