Volkswagen Cheats Car Emissions Testing by Brenna Hale (6th period)

The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) says that Volkswagen used a software that detected emissions testing, and stopped the use of harmful emissions during product testing, only to be turned back on when the cars were sold. Referred to as a "defeat device" it allowed Volkswagen cars to pass EPA safe emissions tests, but after sold they "emit up to 40 times more pollution" than allowed in the U.S.The cars said to be affected are popular Volkswagen and Audi models made from 2009 to present. The company has apologized and will fix the emission control systems. The expense of the "clean diesel" engines explains the high cost of the car, and the reason for why it was so hard to keep them in stock. West Virginia University researchers also found that the cars produced a great amount of nitrogen oxides. The EPA says "these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell."

First off, the quote from the EPA about the fact that these cars can still be driven confuses me. These cars rise above the amount of emission allowed and could obviously pose as a threat to peoples health and the environment, so why are they still able to be driven and resold that the cycle can continue? The Volkswagen company used the "defeat device" to avoid their high emission cars being detected. They also used the device because low emission engines are so expensive, and they were not willing to pay the expenses to legally appeal to those wishing to drive a luxurious green thumb. This reminds me of the Townshend Acts in 1767. The colonists were being regulated like the EPA's regulations on gas emissions, but the colonists still found a way around the acts regulations just as Volkswagen did.

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/18/441467960/volkswagen-used-defeat-device-to-skirt-emissions-rules-epa-says