Page 49 - Bloomberg Businessweek-October 29, 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek October 29, 2018
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● The German chancellor her country—embracing German carmakers
is facing a backlash against and continuing to champion diesel even after
Volkswagen AG admitted three years ago to
her long-standing ties to the cheating on emissions tests. Merkel has long been
auto industry more “car chancellor” than climate chancellor,
says Jürgen Trittin, a former Green Party PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (2); DATA: FEDERAL MOTOR TRANSPORT AUTHORITY
environment minister, and today her auto policies
are “crashing into pieces.”
With her support of the Paris climate accord While recent elections indicate Merkel’s power
and decision to shutter Germany’s nuclear is ebbing, her position is being complicated by a
power plants, Angela Merkel has earned a growing number of court rulings poised to ban
reputation abroad as the “climate chancellor.” But diesel cars from city centers. For two decades,
throughout her 13 years in office, Merkel has had German auto manufacturers touted diesel as a
Edited by a blind spot when it comes to the auto industry— green technology, mostly because it offers 20 per-
David Rocks and
Jillian Goodman which employs more than 800,000 people in cent to 25 percent better fuel efficiency than similar