The Lessons of ‘Dieselgate’

Insane amounts of political capital were spent trying to wring meaningless CO2 reductions from cars

By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. Excerpts:

"Diesel does deliver a tad less CO2 per mile than gasoline but produces more smog and particulates, a detractor that turned out not to be fixable. Remember the Volkswagen scandal of 2015, when U.S. regulators ended the charade by discovering that emissions from imported VWs were 400% worse than advertised?"

"However you slice it, cars just aren’t that big a part of an ostensible CO2 problem. Personal cars sit idle 95% of the time. Planes, trains, ships, trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles account for well over half the emissions associated with the transport sector globally. And the transport sector itself accounts for only 14% of all emissions.

Now for the knee-jerk response from groups like Union of Concerned Scientists: Yes, but road-vehicle emissions are a significant share of total emissions in the U.S. and Europe.

This is a perfect example of the politics of the meaningless gesture, the dominant motif in climate policy. The planet doesn’t care where the emissions happen. The U.S. and Europe could ban driving altogether and it wouldn’t make a sizable difference. For real leverage over CO2, the target has to be heavy industry, electricity generation, and home heating and cooking."

"Europe’s diesel folly ranks as a colossal policy screw-up. Even today preferential taxes, a legacy of the push for diesel, continue to incentivize Europeans to buy such vehicles. The problem isn’t just Western governments reaching the limits of their competence (though that’s a factor that bears careful consideration). A whole generation of green activists and politicians probably will have to die away before rational priorities for limiting CO2 emissions will be discussable. When that day comes, you’ll know it because nobody will be lying to you that putting a Tesla in your driveway is the solution to climate change."