Sierra Club Statement on Massachusetts and New York Volkswagen Lawsuits #CleanAir #Emissions

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey directly challenged Volkswagen’s defense over its devices to cheat on emissions requirements. Both states’ suits claim that the company made false statements to regulators and broke laws requiring cars to have approved pollution control systems. New York’s complaint is the first to explicitly present evidence showing that top Volkswagen managers were aware of the problems that led to company’s deceit.

 

In response, Sierra Club Transportation Representative Andrew Linhardt released the following statement:

“Volkswagen broke the law, and today New York and Massachusetts are taking a step toward making them pay the price. Volkswagen put profits before the health of our families and our planet. By knowingly cheating on emissions standards, Volkswagen vehicles spewed illegal amounts of dangerous pollution, fueling dangerous smog and threatening the health of New York and Massachusetts residents. With these suits, New York and Massachusetts are making sure Volkswagen executives are held accountable.

“Volkswagen needs to shift their focus to building clean electric vehicles more quickly — vehicles that don’t make our families sick and our air dirty because you can’t cheat on tailpipe emissions tests if there are no tailpipes.”