6 ms·

I am ashamed, that my government (the German one) has effectively helped to cover things up for decades now in the EU and they are still doing it. They are sti

I am ashamed, that my government (the German one) has effectively helped to cover things up for decades now in the EU and they are still doing it. They are still blocking realistic pollution regulations for cars in the EU and they help car manufacturers to come away with their manipulations in the EU without real sanctions. In the US, buyers of such cars get a compensation. In Germany, they will never get a penny. But what is worse, people get sick and die (+) because of air pollution in the EU and everybody knows it and they just ignore it or downplay the problem. (+) the numbers of pollution related illnesses is on the rise and medical studies verify the fact that it is a problem. In many cities now, we have regularly pollution values high above thresholds, but also here, the government and local authorities block effective countermeasures. It is so bad, that (a newer study found out) cars which should be better in pollution because of EU regulations (so called EU5) are sometimes even worse than their predecessors (EU4), because the EU willingly puts a blind eye on real pollution values. And it is all, because the German government wants to protect German car producers. I hope, E-Mobility will kill German car manufacturers. And I know, that it will be bad for my Home-country, but they (the manufacturers) deserve it, since they did not care about real clean cars for so long.

philfrasty 9y ago
„I hope, E-Mobility will kill German car manufacturers... they (the manufacturers) deserve it“ So the 500.000 people working for VW and their related families (probably clocking in at > 2 million) „deserve“ to loose their job and livelihood because 5 clowns at the top are pulling the strings the way they want? Don't get me wrong...but the problem seems not to be with the manufacturers per se. More about regulating the very top of the ladder inside huge companies like in other sectors of the economy (banking, etc.)
- toast0 9y ago
  Ignoring the argument for why or if VW should shutdown; if they shutdown tomorrow, wouldn't you expect other automakers to increase production to fill the gap left, and those automakers are going to need more people, and likely more facilities to increase their production. Someone with industry knowledge would probably be able to do good analysis, but the number of people ultimately out of work would be much less than the total number of current workers.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    Other automakers have been investigated and almost all have been found to cheat on emission tests in one way or another and selling cars that are emitting pollutants way over the legal limits. Besides, the car market has been oversaturated for decades and the car industry has been slowly agonizing for a while. We have way more cars around than we actually need while almost all cars spend over 90% of the time parked and waiting, at the same time most cars in big cities are running around in circles trying to find a place to park.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  It's a strange point you're trying to make. Are we supposed to continue polluting the air we breathe with all the consequences on overall economy so half a million people can continue spending (wasting?) their lives making cars ? When the fridge got invented, people selling ice found themselves out of a job, well the car is a significant cause of the global issue we're all facing and as such it has to be fixed or removed. Anyways Germany voted to ban internal combustion engine cars by 2030 and EU is about to put in motion its own plan to do the same by 2050, so jobs in the car industry do not have a bright future. Let's not forget that it is quite possible that in the near future most jobs will be made obsolete and the remaining ones will mostly be related to weak AI.
kaybe 9y ago
The argument of E-Mobility fixing the problem is an argument for many local politicians as to why action is not necessary. I've been involved in measuring NO2 in many German cities and talking to many journalists, and that is the usual argument. And of course they are all afraid to hurt their economy, especially the smaller companies and trades.
- PythonicAlpha 9y ago
  I don't think, that E-Mobility per se is fixing the problem. I just think, that many things could/should be done, but most opportunities just where wasted for decades now, because of pure short-term profit thinking. The other thing is, because the Germans waited so long, they are about to loose there own possibilities. Now other countries are far ahead -- morally and technologically.

philfrasty 9y ago

„I hope, E-Mobility will kill German car manufacturers... they (the manufacturers) deserve it“ So the 500.000 people working for VW and their related families (probably clocking in at > 2 million) „deserve“ to loose their job and livelihood because 5 clowns at the top are pulling the strings the way they want? Don't get me wrong...but the problem seems not to be with the manufacturers per se. More about regulating the very top of the ladder inside huge companies like in other sectors of the economy (banking, etc.)

toast0 9y ago
Ignoring the argument for why or if VW should shutdown; if they shutdown tomorrow, wouldn't you expect other automakers to increase production to fill the gap left, and those automakers are going to need more people, and likely more facilities to increase their production. Someone with industry knowledge would probably be able to do good analysis, but the number of people ultimately out of work would be much less than the total number of current workers.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  Other automakers have been investigated and almost all have been found to cheat on emission tests in one way or another and selling cars that are emitting pollutants way over the legal limits. Besides, the car market has been oversaturated for decades and the car industry has been slowly agonizing for a while. We have way more cars around than we actually need while almost all cars spend over 90% of the time parked and waiting, at the same time most cars in big cities are running around in circles trying to find a place to park.
bigbugbag 9y ago
It's a strange point you're trying to make. Are we supposed to continue polluting the air we breathe with all the consequences on overall economy so half a million people can continue spending (wasting?) their lives making cars ? When the fridge got invented, people selling ice found themselves out of a job, well the car is a significant cause of the global issue we're all facing and as such it has to be fixed or removed. Anyways Germany voted to ban internal combustion engine cars by 2030 and EU is about to put in motion its own plan to do the same by 2050, so jobs in the car industry do not have a bright future. Let's not forget that it is quite possible that in the near future most jobs will be made obsolete and the remaining ones will mostly be related to weak AI.

kaybe 9y ago

The argument of E-Mobility fixing the problem is an argument for many local politicians as to why action is not necessary. I've been involved in measuring NO2 in many German cities and talking to many journalists, and that is the usual argument. And of course they are all afraid to hurt their economy, especially the smaller companies and trades.

PythonicAlpha 9y ago
I don't think, that E-Mobility per se is fixing the problem. I just think, that many things could/should be done, but most opportunities just where wasted for decades now, because of pure short-term profit thinking. The other thing is, because the Germans waited so long, they are about to loose there own possibilities. Now other countries are far ahead -- morally and technologically.