A Public Service of Santa Fe Community College
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Oct. 1 - Local VW Dealer Responds To "Deiselgate" Scandal

"Dieselgate" is the term being used to describe the most recent news from the automotive sector of the business world these days.  As KSFR’s been reporting, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accused Volkswagen of installing software on certain diesel fuel engine cars to circumvent federal emission standards.   The EPA says as a result, almost half a million U.S. autos may have emitted thousand tons of nitrogen oxides as a result of the devices. The emissions can have serious health effects, especially for children, the elderly and those who suffer from respiratory problems. And, the scandal has rocked V-W, the world’s second largest automaker, whose chief executive stepped down this week. 

KSFR reporter Mary Lou Cooper takes a look at some of the local implications of emissions-cheating devices on VW cars.

Mary Lou Cooper reports on consumer issues for KSFR as well as on politics and elder affairs. She has worked for the U.S. Congress as well as for the Nevada and Tennessee legislatures, and remains a political junkie. She worked many years for an association of Western state legislatures and was a contributor to “Capitol Ideas,” a national magazine about state government. In 2016 Cooper received a public service award from the New Mexico Broadcasting Association for her KSFR story on Internet romance scams. She has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and from the National Federation of Press Women. She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN and received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta and her MA from the University of Texas Austin. She also holds fiction and screenwriting certificates from the University of Washington.