Dieselgate isn’t just about emission-cheating cars. It’s also about how we need to make sure every manufacturer out there and their products live up to their claims.

The long road that lies ahead for Volkswagen. (Image from EuroNews.com)

http://www.treehugger.com/health/how-many-deaths-did-vw-emissiongate-scandal-cause.html

No doubt, it’s had devastating effects to many people,  depending on whom you ask, whether it’s the customers, or auto dealers, or the EPA, or our the planet itself. The idea of a cheat software—a hack that’s both ingenious and sinister in skewing data in favor of lower emission levels—was just too much for many of us. You know it’s serious because this issue has had –gate charmingly affixed to its name. Just as the Watergate scandal rocked the ‘70s, so will this new Dieselgate affect our lives—especially at a time of drastic climate change.

And, man, this is serious, not only because this has been going on since 2009, not only because up to 11 million Volkswagen cars worldwide are in question here.

This thing is serious because, for all we know, those severely underestimated emissions might be implicated in countless incidences of diseases and death caused by air pollution. There are no hard fast figures here, because as Michael Graham Richard of Treehugger explains, it’s difficult to find direct and clear-cut impacts, unlike with General Motor’s defective ignition switch, which costed the lives of at least 124 people.

Dieselgate’s impact is more diffuse and far-reaching, its victims, anonymous, which makes it even more saddening.

We Are What We Drive

We’ve always equated Volkswagen with quality and integrity.  Who among us did not dream of owning the iconic Beetle, what with its succinct curves, compact form, and sense of carefree fun?  But if Volkswagen could be involved in such a long-standing cover-up , what does that make of other companies?   Have they also been lying to us?  How truthful or twisted are their claims and grand proclamations?  What else is there to believe about the products we buy and patronize?

Already, Samsung is in the hot seat, what with its TVs supposedly equipped with software that detects when they’re being tested to purposely turn on energy efficiency.

On a positive note, Dieselgate has opened the forum regarding how lab testing should go hand in hand with real-world scenario. If anything, the fiasco has casted doubt on countless other products in the market today. And that is a good thing because at the end of the day, it should shed light on them.

Now, once-compelling adjectives like energy-saving, energy-efficient, 100{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} natural, 100{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} sustainable, organic, fair trade, net zero carbon footprint, will be regarded with care and reservations. No one can just throw them around or slap on their labels without having gone rigorous testing. And whatever testing and standards we currently have will have to be questioned, checked, updated, and reinforced. It’s a hassle, yes, but all of us end up winners this way.

Dieselgate and Beyond

Dieselgate also has forced Volkswagen to seriously rethink its positioning regarding their products. Perhaps as a way of atonement, VW is now considering making hybrid electric cars—something they should have done a long time ago alongside Tesla and Audi. It’s a little too late, according to Wired, but as long as they stay damn honest about it this time, by all means let’s have Volkswagen give it a shot. We could use all the smart minds in the planet to find a way to scale up electric cars once and for all.