Sierra Club Statement on Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement

On Thursday, August 2nd, 2018 Maryland officials announced a proposed plan to spend the state’s portion of a federal settlement with Volkswagen. The Maryland Department of the Environment, in conjunction with the Maryland Energy Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation announced a plan to invest approximately $75 million in pollution reduction measures in response to the intentional emissions cheating scheme rolled out by Volkswagen. The company installed cheating computer systems that run emissions controls during testing, but do not run during normal vehicle operation in nearly 500,000 cars it sold that violated EPA air quality standards.

The plan proposes investments into electric vehicle infrastructure deployment, diesel vehicle upgrades and replacements, and provides formal opportunities for local governments and other stakeholders to submit proposals for additional smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution reductions.

In response, Director of the Maryland Sierra Club, Josh Tulkin, issued the following statement:

“We are happy to see Maryland following other states in finally releasing its plan on investing its share of the pot from the Volkswagen settlement. Volkswagen’s emission cheating scandal put Maryland families at risk by spewing excessive pollution from their vehicles’ tailpipes. After a series of code red and orange air alert days this summer, it is clear we need to do more to clean up the dangerous pollution from the transportation sector, the number one source of climate pollution in the country. It’s time for Maryland to transform our transportation sector into a clean, equitable, regional 21st century system.

The state’s draft plan is a good start, but there is room for improvement. We are excited to see millions of dollars proposed for investment into electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and we strongly affirm that the state direct investments into communities that have been overburdened by dangerous and harmful diesel pollution for decades. We will be looking very closely at the draft plan and offering our feedback to the state to ensure that as much money as possible is flowing toward non-emitting, electric solutions in the transportation sector.”