A Detroit Jail Will Remain Home Sweet Home for Nabbed VW Exec

This is about local air pollution: smog-forming chemicals. Nothing to do with fuel economy or carbon emissions. But I don't think this guy is much of a threat to anyone. Surely adequate punishment could be inflicted in a solely financial manner.

@rpn453 Going to disagree on the punishment. He is accused of being part of a fraud that the relevant experts say has resulted in deaths that would not otherwise have happened. When people die as a result of your criminal activities, that's not something that should result in a fine. And to the VW apologists: If you're not getting paid to spout the same tired spiel at every related story, you're sad. If you are paid, I'm sad.

' fraudulent branch of science known as anthropogenic global warming.' The US is lost beyond any hope. Comments like this, intelligent design... Next step is witchburning. Not the first time in history humanity lost centuries of knowledge to superstition.

@Vega "The US is lost beyond any hope." Yabbut you guys are going dhimmi so six of one, half-dozen of another.

@Vega It is hard not replying with some insult, but TW5 just insulted his or her own intelligence. TW5, do you even science, bro? WTF were these idiots doing during chemistry class? Do they understand wtf is getting emitted out of their diesel engine's tailpipe? I think the only real solution to the population problem is to jam these idiots inside of a closed chamber and mix in NOx in the atmosphere with some sunlight, maybe make it rain to speed up the process. Don't let them out. They can use all the big words they learned from their puppet masters while they die of photochemical smog.

@05lgt There should be high-ranking General Motors executives, including Mary Barra herself, in jail without bond, with imminent prosecution pending, over the defective ignition run cylinder equipped, death-causing GM vehicles, that were known to be fatally-defective for at least 11 years, and in response to which GM executives tried to substitute a new part, stamped with the same part number, without reporting it to authorities, regulatory agencies, their consumers, and many others. There should also be Takata executives, including its CEO, similarly situated. The bald-faced hypocrisy in the treatment of VW executives compared to GM, Takata and many other companies' executives by the U.S. "justice system" is criminal in and of itself.

@DeadWeight This I 100% agree with. The VW execs deserve punishment, but both cases of GM and Takata should have life sentences handed out. The engineer who knowingly violated all internal and external standards at the very minimum needs to be held accountable for x many counts of manslaughter.

@05lgt He may have participated in the fraud, granted. However he was neither the instigator nor one of the major developers, just the front man in this country that made the statements promoting it. So while he's hardly blameless the potential sentence shocks the conscience. Punishment is supposed to fit the crime, not to make exciting headlines. You can look up the list of people that were killed by GM ignition switches and Takata airbags. I challenge anyone to get me the name of a single person that died or had their lifespan shortened by an hour as a direct result of an unquantifiable amount of excess NOX emitted by a cheating diesel. It is a theoretical harm, like saying that because I walked past your open window while smoking a cigarette I gave your kid asthma.

@Tres I know NOX is a particulate matter that is generally regarded as one of the worst pollutants. I'm also aware of how little NOX comes from diesel automobiles compared with heavy duty off highway equipment, generators, etc. This is the prosecution of a silly political moral system, not a fundamental matter of law. Furthermore, the only legal issues at all are related to bad policy that need not be implemented in the first place. No, I'm not advocating exhaust pipes billowing black smoke, I'm saying this is yet another consequence of our awful fuel economy regime. You aren't aware of it because you're conditioned to accept it.

@jpolicke would you like to filter through the lists of big city asthma deaths and pick which ones were due to the VW emissions over the limit and which weren't? I know that's not how it works, but the increase in deaths is still real and had this fraud as a cause. Just because it's complicated doesn't make it OK.

Vee hadt no choiss! Which historically translated to "Not kennt kein Gebot" but anyone who exculpates VW is probably too wet-lipped to get that.

Hey johnnyz. I'm part of the public, pay taxes, and served my nation. You are not accurately stating my beliefs, so please stop pretending to speak for me. I'll let the rest of the public decide for themselves whether or not you can speak for them; I stand on my own feet.

"It is the brass at the EPA that belong in jail. By imposing unrealistic and unattainable standards, our criminal government has created a so-called criminal corporate class." What a bunch of nonsense. You mean the unrealistic and unattainable standards that other companies have met? The EPA in your eyes may do the opposite of what the public wants, but I personally like a cleaner environment. And no, I'm not an EPA apologist. I often disagree with what they do. But I more often agree with their results.

I do not think "arbitrary" means what you think it means. Environmental regulations have a real impact. Everybody thinks California is overboard with their regulations, but look at LA's air quality today versus the 1970s. Sometimes you have to put down the cheeseburger and eat some veggies. I wholeheartedly support putting VW executives in jail for their actions. Also, shouldn't we be upset at financial damages done to companies who were doing the right thing, followed emissions rules, but lost sales to VW?

@05lgt Thank you for your service. Sadly most "service" is useless foreign wars the serve us not. Until American realize that big government including Trump are the enemy, they will remain enslaved.

@N8iveVA FCA is having problems meeting the standards. This punishment by government lackeys is not over. More heads will roll. Furthermore, for some reason- probably special interests. Diesel is considered undesirable and punished accordingly. CAFE and EPA are arbitrary frauds. The public will make good choices without our Federal overlords deciding for us.

@Erikstrawn It is arbitrary that the EPA prefers gasoline to diesel. Inconsistent regulations from both sides of the pond require different technologies and ultimately more cost to we the consumers. I'm sure the VW middle management was caught between corporate sales goals and EPA regulations. Let the little guy suffer, business as usual.

@OldManPants Do you speak Esparanto? Better wet you lips. Mr.T says you a fool!

@johnnyz Requiring that diesel engines meet the same emission standards as gasoline engines isn't favoritism, it's common sense. Gasoline engines that can meet those standards are simply more suitable for urban environments than diesel engines that cannot. It is other countries that have been favoring diesel through their fuel taxation programs, and their air quality has suffered as a result. You may not consider air quality to be as important as the right to drive any vehicle of your choosing, but I suspect you're in the minority.