Nuetron, is time you face up to the inevitable reality that, no matter what the EPA rules state, in a billion years, approximately 98% of all life forms on planet earth will be extinct. That includes us. But the earth itself will continue on as if nothing of consequence has happened.

The problem with your argument is that it views the issue in “either/or” terms. Either we have runaway air pollution or we accept an over-reaching and onerous EPA.

You’re more likely to die from heart disease than anything else. In relative terms, the prospect of dying as a direct result from air pollution is about as likely as dying from a bee sting.

Statistically, you are orders of magnitude more likely to die from eating a cheeseburger and fries and sitting on your duff than you are to die from either a faulty ignition switch or air pollution.

You nailed it.

Actually, that’s not how the world works. That’s only how it works for peons.

And, in the aggregate, heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the US.

Roughly 610,000 people die prematurely every year from heart-related problems that result from eating fatty foods and not getting enough exercise.

The difference is in the ACTUAL damage that resulted from the action.

Ask the people at GM. They would know. And GM’s cover-up was KILLING people. At worst, VW is guilty of producing engines that emitted more particulates than previously estimated and attempting to outsmart the regulators.

Did VW break the rules? Sure. Should they suffer negative consequences for their actions? Absolutely. But let’s be certain the punishment fits the misbehavior.