{"id":14033,"date":"2015-11-01T09:04:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T14:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=14033"},"modified":"2015-11-01T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-01T14:04:09","slug":"cheating-no-problem-automakers-win-again-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=14033","title":{"rendered":"Cheating, No Problem: Automakers Win Again in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wolfstreet.com\/2015\/10\/31\/eu-unveils-tough-new-emissions-test-automakers-jubilate\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cheating, No Problem: Automakers Win Again in Europe<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>They run the show.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brussels, Europe: A more wretched hive of corporate lobbyists, law firms, and money-grubbing apparatchiks you will struggle to find. The latest example of lobbying influence is one of the most egregious yet, since it will affect the quality (or lack thereof) of the air breathed by millions of Europeans for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tough Talking<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From September 1, 2017, new car models will have to pass a new emissions test before they can be put on the market. According to many headlines, the new tests are much tougher than the previous ones. \u201cEU Car Emissions:\u00a0<em>Tough<\/em>\u00a0New Tests Backed,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34661875#?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=DTN+World+News:\">proclaims<\/a>\u00a0the BBC. \u201cEU Parliament Takes\u00a0<em>Tough<\/em>Stance on Emissions Tests,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/europe.autonews.com\/article\/20151027\/ANE\/151029849\/eu-parliament-takes-tough-stance-on-emissions-tests\">thunders<\/a>\u00a0the trade journal Automotive News Europe.<\/p>\n<p>The word \u201ctough\u201d normally evokes the idea of strength or resolution, something that is not easily broken or made weaker or defeated. Not so in this case. In the EU\u2019s \u201ctough\u201d new tests, car models sold after September 2017 will not be allowed to \u201cexceed nitrogen oxide\u00a0emission levels\u00a0<em>by more than twice<\/em>\u00a0the technical limit,\u201d reports the BBC.<\/p>\n<p>Put another way, cars\u00a0<em>will<\/em>\u00a0be allowed to spew out twice the legal limit of nitrogen oxides (NOx) \u2013 or as a matter of fact, more than that (110%) \u2013 until 2020, and by up to 50% more from then on. The EU has just dramatically raised the emission limit instead of lowering it. So much for toughness.<\/p>\n<p>The really funny thing (in the classic \u201cif you don\u2019t laugh, you have to cry\u201d sort of way) is that the main purpose of the new rules is to regain public trust and confidence in Europe\u2019s car industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublic trust and consumer protection are at stake,\u201d the European Union\u2019s industrial policy chief, Elzbieta Bienkowska, told a business audience in Brussels on Oct. 22. \u201cThe only way in which we will restore public confidence is by acting quickly, collectively, coherently, and effectively. National authorities must play their role and work as active partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;click on the above link to read the rest of the article&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cheating, No Problem: Automakers Win Again in Europe They run the show. Brussels, Europe: A more wretched hive of corporate lobbyists, law firms, and money-grubbing apparatchiks you will struggle to find. The latest example of lobbying influence is one of the most egregious yet, since it will affect the quality (or lack thereof) of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[8095,95,10399,113,8475,5660,279,4768,4255],"class_list":["post-14033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-environment","tag-automakers","tag-brussels","tag-car-emissions","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-cars","tag-don-quijones","tag-eu","tag-lobbyists","tag-wolfstreet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14034,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14033\/revisions\/14034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}