9 Comments

One minor quibble -- we don't talk about diesel engines because here in North America they're every bit as clean as in Europe, if not more so. EPA emissions standards for diesel have been stricter than European ones for a long time, and it wasn't until Euro VI that they caught up.

Expand full comment
Oct 5, 2023·edited Oct 5, 2023

Haile:

Except they are allowed to alter the emissions and purposely blow black sooty exhaust when they accelerate. The police do not enforce emissions violations. This I found i the oversized pickup trucks.

Expand full comment

If Europeans want to roll coal they can do so with the same amount of impunity. It just doesn't have thes ame social cachet over there.

Expand full comment

The difference here being, one can not modify emission controls in the US or in Europe. The amount of impunity may be the result of a lack of enforcement by local authorities. On a federal level, there is no immunity from purposeful emission control changes because you believe you are special. When caught people are fined $thousands in the US. The same is true in Europe and Europe is far tougher.

It may be the restrictions were less in Europe previously. That has changed and especially in Germany. the auto nation of the world.

Germany 2018: "The court decreed that German cities can — and, in acutely polluted locales, "must" bar older diesel vehicles from congested downtown streets. The ruling upheld bans proposed in Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, two of Germany’s smogiest cities, and set a precedent that applies across the country."

EU: "If your car was made after 2006, there's a good chance it is LEZ compliant, with cars made after September 2015 likely also being ULEZ compliant. But if you want to be certain, you can use a ULEZ checker to ensure your car is in the clear."

No they can not purposefully blow soot and CO2 by changing the emission controls. Volkswagon tried to avoid emission controls and got caught.

Expand full comment

Lloyd:

Do you mind if I link your site to Angry Bear Blog?

Expand full comment
author

not at all!

Expand full comment
Oct 8, 2023·edited Oct 8, 2023

Lloyd,

Thank you. I hesitate and always wait for an affirmative. Been burned a couple of times with the assumption being "no answer means a "yes."

Expand full comment
author

sorry I took so long, I was out of town and not reading comments

Expand full comment

No problem Lloyd. Just being careful.

Bill

Expand full comment