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Tag Archives: Volkswagen

What If The Liberals Were Running Volkswagen…

Volkswagen has recently had a bit of trouble. After discovering that the steering was faulty on some vehicles a couple of years ago, they’ve recently been in the news because it was discovered that some of their cars were fitted with devices that enabled them to cheat pollution tests.

In releasing the news to the world, VW made a terrible mistake which sent their shares plummeting. They told us:

“In order to cover the necessary service and other measures to win back customer confidence, VW plans to set aside 6.5 billion euros in provisions in the third quarter.he group’s earnings targets for 2015 will be adjusted accordingly.”

Now, the Liberals know a thing or two about winning back confidence. According to the latest poll in the Fairfax Fantasies the Coalition now sit at 53% two party preferred. (No mention of the 3% error margin in that story!)

Yep, the Liberals sure know how to change perceptions. Now, if they were in charge of Volkswagen it would have gone something like this:

Meeting between CEO and PR manager.

“I’m about to issue the press release. What do you want me to say?”

“Tell everyone that we have a new grill!”

“A new grill?”

“Yep, we’ve replaced the whole front of the car. If you’ll just announce that we’ve replaced the old Abbott grill with the sleek, attractive Turnbull grill.”

“So you’re solving this by getting rid of the Abbott grill?”

“Well, we haven’t actually got rid of it yet. We’ve put it out the back till someone works out what to do with it?”

“I think the problem needs more than just a prettier front.”

“That’s not all we’ve done. We’ve replaced the Andrews bull-bar, and put the Hockey in the boot.”

“The Hockey? What’d it do?”

“Nothing much. We couldn’t work out what it was there for. It just seemed to get in the way and cause us to stall whenever we got a green light. Nah, nobody’ll even notice that the Hockey’s gone. We’ll be asking people instead to concentrate on the Morrison we’ve installed.”

“The Morrison? What’s it do?”

“It tells you that the problem isn’t that there isn’t enough petrol. The problem is that you want to drive too far.”

“That sounds like something the Hockey would have done!”

“Nah, the Hockey would have only said that poor people drive too far. The Morrison thinks everyone should just sit in their garage until they’ve saved enough on petrol to build their own roads. Privatisation, see.”

“OK, so I’m to put out a statement telling people about how much better the cars look now. No problem. But I don’t see how this gets around the basic problem.”

“What’s that?

“You were cheating on emissions!”

“What if I told you that we’ve got a new front grill that doesn’t cheat on emissions?”

“The front grill had nothing to do with emissions.”

“Exactly!”

“The problem is that people don’t trust you and it sounds like nothing you’ve done is going to fix things.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how well people respond to something shiny.”

“Can’t you do something to fix the emissions problem?

“Hey look, we fixed the steering problem. We’re no longer veering all over the road. And soon we’ll be commencing our direct action plan that fixes the cheating on emissions.”

“How?”

“Well, we’re going to pay our engineers to produce accurate devices.”

“Isn’t that what they should have been doing originally?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”

“How do we convince people that it’s all ok, and that the emissions aren’t a problem?”

“Not everybody’s concerned about emissions. Some of our engineers believe that emissions are good for humanity, and that all this talk about carbon monoxide being dangerous is just a lot of lefty greenies trying to create a world government in order to impose anarchy. In fact, they didn’t even think that we needed to replace the grill. They thought the old Abbott one was pretty damn good. But then some of them haven’t been happy since we stopped calling the things we put engines into ‘horseless carriages’. They don’t like change unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.”

“If we’re going to have any credibility, I really think that you need to fix the basic problem.”

“Not necessary. People will be so busy admiring the new appearance that they won’t even noticed that we’ve sealed up the doors.”

“You’ve sealed up the doors? Why?”

“Part of the plan with the Morrison. If nobody can get into the car, they won’t notice any of the problems. We’ll just tell that what’s inside the car is an ‘operational matter’. And if they can’t press the accelerator and that way, there’ll still be plenty of fuel.”

“But isn’t the whole idea of the car that you go somewhere?”

“Oh, we’ll unseal the doors and let certain people in. But that’s only after we’ve won back everyone’s trust.”

“This is going to be a hard sell.”

“Come on. You’ve had hard sells before, and you’ve always come through. Like when you convinced the public that those driving our biggest models were really contributing more to the company, so that’s why we gave them free fuel and servicing.”

“I’ll see what I can do. But don’t blame me if people starting buying your competitor’s cars. Even if they have that ugly Shorten as a grill.”

“Yes, our inquiry into dodgy grills has certainly put a dent in that one. The only concern now is that they use it as an excuse to replace the grill with their Plibersek or their Albenese.”

“Well then we can run the old ‘how can you trust a company that replaces its grill’ line?”

“Won’t that back-fire on us?”

“Nah. Don’t you remember that ‘it’s all about trust’ one we ran for John Howard after he’d broken just about every election promise including the never, ever GST! If you say it, they will believe you.”

“it’s not that simple.”

“It’s a well-known fact that if you keep repeating something, people believe you.”

“It can’t be that simple.”

“Yep, If you repeat something often enough, people believe you.”

“Really?”

“Look, if you repeat something, people believe you.”

“I suppose. Anyway, get started on that campaign. Announce that anyone who has an earlier model with an Abbott grill, should be very pleased because that Abbott grill has just been wonderful and really one of the best grills that a car can possibly have, but next time they take their car in for a service, they’ll come out with the Turnbull.”

“Doesn’t that sort of contradict your message that it needed replacing?”

“Just spin it that we thought the Abbott looked better out the back. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

“OK. I’ll get onto it.”

“Good luck.”

 

The dark side of diesel

By Dr Anthony Horton

It’s fair to say that the Volkswagen diesel emissions revelations have captured the world’s attention. As a scientist with a background in air pollution monitoring and management I must admit that the amount of attention the issue has received intrigues me – from the perspectives of both the media reporting of the issue and of course the public reaction.

I’m particularly interested in the media’s reporting of the issue in terms of what a test method is, what is emitted under test conditions and what an emission standard or limit is. I see the way it has been reported as a public demonstration of the scientific method-questioning the way something is, testing/analysing it, comparing the results against a standard and determining what that means. From my perspective these steps are fundamental, and the more the public can see why scientists do what they do, why they do it and the part science plays in society the better. However this is not really the place for a lesson in the scientific method. Instead, I would like to look at diesel emissions from another perspective.

Diesel emissions from vehicles are comprised of a number of pollutants, with the most significant being nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulates. The latter were the first pollutants emitted from vehicle exhaust to be identified as toxic in 1993 by a team from Harvard University in their groundbreaking Six Cities Study which involved more than 8000 adults over more than 14 years.

The study’s findings were significant because the mortality risk in “dirtier” cities (cities that are more heavily polluted) was strongly associated with fine particles, and life expectancy in these cities was reportedly 2-3 years less than “cleaner” cities. The findings also gave rise to new air quality standards which have in turn progressively lowered particulate concentrations and improved health outcomes over the past two decades.

In the time since the Six Cities Study, hundreds of studies have given rise to similar conclusions. One study in the UK estimated that nearly 30,000 people are killed each year from exposure to particulates (more than obesity and alcohol combined and 10 times the number of people killed on roads). The UK Government Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution estimates that it is a factor in an additional 200,000 deaths.

In June 2012, The World Health Organisation (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared that diesel exhaust was a probable human carcinogen, based on sufficient evidence that personal exposure is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

Head of the IARC Monographs Section Dr Kurt Straif stated at the announcement that the air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances, and that outdoor air is a leading cause of cancer deaths from an environmental perspective. The scientists conducting the evaluation reviewed in excess of 1000 academic papers on polluted air and small particles in that air. The IARC also reported that in 2010 air pollution was responsible for 223,000 deaths in lung cancer patients worldwide.

France has the highest percentage of diesel cars of any European country’s vehicle fleet as a result of successive Governments subsidising diesel fuel to such an extent that it is cheaper than petrol. In March this year, an increase in air pollution resulted in Paris being the most polluted city in the world for a short time, with the smog being so thick that many of the city’s landmarks including the Eiffel Tower were invisible. In addition, the Volkswagen revelations have increased the pressure on the French Government to act on vehicle emissions and the associated air pollution.

A car free day was implemented in Paris last week (September 27) at the suggestion of the Paris Without Cars group. The car free day was limited to approximately one third of the city, covering an area between Bastille and the Champs Elysees and the outer Bios de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes between 11 and 6pm. In the remainder of the city, cars were allowed to travel at 20 km/hour. Despite the limited scope, Elisabeth Pagnac who lives in a tower block in the east of the city reported the dramatic difference in the skyline and commented that it had never been as blue and was very different without the layer of pollution that typically hangs in the air.

In addition to implementing the car free day, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has made a vow to end diesel use on the city by 2020 and promote less car usage and cleaner vehicle. She also plans to extend car free areas further along the Seine River.

Regardless of the extent to which the decision to implement a car free day was or wasn’t influenced by the Volkswagen revelations, I think that implementing such a day was a bold decision. As an Australian I can’t help but wonder how many Mayors would have the courage to do the same in their cities. As a scientist I wonder about three points-1) whether the Volkswagen revelations and in particular discussions on the emissions will cause Regulatory Authorities around the world to rethink/ revise the process they use to assess/audit emissions sources (of all types, not just cars) and any associated data, 2) whether the revelations will cause people to pause and consider the full impacts (eg. environmental, health and economic) of their potential purchase as part of their buying decision process, and 3) the future of diesel vehicles.

 

rWdMeee6_peAbout the author: Anthony Horton holds a PhD in Environmental Science, a Bachelor of Environmental Science with Honours and a Diploma of Carbon Management. He has a track record of delivering customised solutions in Academia, Government, the Mining Industry and Consulting based on the latest wisdom and his scientific background and experience in Climate/Atmospheric Science and Air Quality. Anthony’s work has been published in internationally recognised scientific journals and presented at international and national conferences, and he is currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal Nature Environment and Pollution Technology. Anthony also blogs on his own site, The Climate Change Guy.