The VW Betrayal: The SilverLEAF Chronicles 7

Contributed by Dr. Sarah

“I feel tainted” says my beau, who owns a VW diesel Golf. He’d been proud to drive that car. He enjoyed it’s sportiness, but appreciated its (promised) clean-burning engine.

He bought the car shortly before he and I got involved. His pride in the green-ness of the car increased when he got involved with me– my passionate investment in reducing our collective ecological impact for the sake of our children has rubbed off on him a bit.

Now, my beau does not anger easily. In fact, he’s an exceptionally even-tempered person. And he’s not obsessed with all-things-environmental– unlike me!

But he feels that he’s now branded by his polluting car as someone who doesn’t care about the ecological impact of his car.

Millions of VW diesels have been sold around the world to unsuspecting people. Some of them– not all– cared a lot about the purported low emissions of their cars.

It’s about excess global warming pollution, and immediate harm to our health as well. An AP study estimated that as many as 94 people in the US alone may have died in the last 7 years as a result of the VW excess emissions. In Europe, where most of the diesels have been sold, the health impacts and deaths are estimated to be greater because of the greater population density. Our health has been damaged.

More than once since the VW fraud story broke, I’ve been glad that I drive a car for which the emissions can’t be faked– because there are no emissions.

I don’t feel branded as a polluter when I drive TheSilverLEAF. But it’s not fair to VW diesel drivers that they should be tarnished.

The Volkswagen betrayal goes beyond deceiving car buyers– and the EPA. It’s a betrayal of our social contract to protect the natural world so that future generations can thrive. Our children have been betrayed.