SHIKHA DALMIA: EPA — The Other Villain in the Volkswagen Scam.

But the hard reality is that this might not be the last such scam we’ll see. If the EPA continues on its anti-industry crusade, it’ll practically invite widespread disrespect for the law.

The EPA slashed allowable nitrogen dioxide car emissions from the already low 1.2 grams per mile average to 0.07 grams per mile in 2008 to boost air quality that courts at the time ruled was already pretty good and adequately protecting public health. The EPA is now poised to tighten that standard another 30 percent.

The problem for carmakers is that they can’t simultaneously satisfy such regulatory edicts and consumer demand.

Drivers want cheap, safe, powerful cars. That is exactly what the EPA’s NOx standards made it very difficult for VW to produce.

To be fair, the people behind the standards want us all riding buses.