Learn a little more...with a link!
Website Article: U.S. Department of Energy, How Do Diesel Cars Work | Check out this diagram & compare diesels to other kinds of engines.
Website Article: Ducksters, Environment, Air Pollution | Learn the facts about why air pollution is bad for the environment & us.
Simulation Game: Smog City 2 | Control the air quality to see how individual choices can affect air pollution.
Read the script:
RICK: IN OTHER WORLD NEWS, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY ARE GETTING READY TO SAY AUF WIEDERSEHEN TO DIESEL CARS. DIESEL IS A DIFFERENT FORM OF FUEL FOR CARS. IT CAN BE MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT THAN GASOLINE, BUT PUTS OUT A LOT MORE POLLUTION. TO LOWER THIS POLLUTION, THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT PASSED A LAW THAT ALLOWS CITIES TO BAN DIESEL CARS. ATIKA SHUBERT REPORTS.
ATIKA: THIS LUCAS LOVES HIS BIKE. HE AVERAGES 250 KILOMETERS A WEEK IN HIS HOME STUTTGART, BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.
LUCAS: WELL, I COULD SMELL THAT IT WASN'T CLEAN. IT DID HURT IN MY NOSE AND DID HURT IN THE EYES.
ATIKA: LUCAS IS WORRIED ABOUT NO2, NITROGEN DIOXIDE FROM DIESEL EXHAUST. THE EU SAYS IN 2014, AN ESTIMATED 400,000 PREMATURE DEATHS WERE CAUSED BY NO2 AND FINE PARTICULATE POLLUTION. LUCAS POINTS TO TWO PLASTIC VIALS HE'S INSTALLED ON HIS ROUTE DESIGNED TO TRAP AND MEASURE NO2. THERE ARE MORE THAN 500 OF THESE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. BUT LUCAS ISN'T JUST A CONCERNED CYCLIST, HE IS ALSO A CAR ENGINEER. GERMANY'S AUTO INDUSTRY MAKES UP NEARLY 15% OF ITS GDP AND EMPLOYS MORE THAN 800,000.
LUCAS: WE ARE VERY CAR-CONNECTED. I MEAN, EVERY PERSON HERE IS SOMEHOW GETTING MONEY FROM THE COMPANY. IF NOT ME, THEN IT'S MY FAMILY THAT EARNS MONEY FROM THE CAR INDUSTRY, AND EVERYTHING'S CONNECTED. THEY'RE VERY PROUD OF IT. I'M VERY PROUD OF THE CARS AND THE PRODUCTS WE MAKE. BUT THE IDEA WE HAVE THAT CARS HAVE TO BE RUN BY PETROL, AND THAT EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE THEIR OWN CAR IN A CITY THAT'S GROWING AND GETTING MORE AND MORE COMPACT, THAT SETTING HAS TO CHANGE.
ATIKA: NEARLY HALF OF NEW CARS IN THE EU ARE DIESEL. BUT IN 2015, VOLKSWAGEN WAS CAUGHT CHEATING EMISSIONS TESTS IN CALIFORNIA, SPEWING NO2 UP TO 40 TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT. SUZANNE JALLOW SAYS SHE WASN'T SURPRISED BY THAT. SHE SHOWS US THE LAYER OF SMOG THAT HANGS OVER THE CITY. STUTTGART IS ONE OF 28 CITIES ACROSS GERMANY THAT REGULARLY EXCEEDS EU LIMITS FOR NO2.
SUZANNE TRANSLATED: FOR YEARS I SENT MY KIDS OUT AND TOLD THEM TO PLAY OUTSIDE WHEN THE WEATHER WAS NICE. BUT COLD CLEAR WEATHER LIKE WE HAVE NOW IS NOT GOOD. THE ISSUE IS THAT AIR STAGNATES UNDERNEATH. IT'S LIKE A LID THAT SITS ON THE SMOG, AND CANNOT GET OUT.
ATIKA:THAT’S WHEN SHE CHECKS HER PARTICULATE METER, A SIMPLE PVC PIPE AND CIRCUIT BOARD DEVICE MADE FOR LESS THAN $40. ONE OF HUNDREDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, A GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE TO MEASURE THE COST OF CAR POLLUTION.
SUZANNE TRANSLATED: IN THE LAST YEAR OR SO THINGS HAVE CHANGED PEOPLE NOW REALIZE ALL CITIZENS ARE AFFECTED.
ATIKA: GETTING GERMANY TO GIVE UP OR AT LEAST PUT ASIDE THEIR BELOVED DIESEL CARS, MAY NOT WORK IMMEDIATELY, BUT CITIZENS LIKE LUCAS AND JALLOW ARE HOPING THEIR PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF.