Fitzgerald Auto Malls Says It's Time for VW to Go Nuclear

Green Auto Dealer Says Don't Punish Consumers For VW's Mistakes

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Oct 15, 2015, 07:14 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Jack Fitzgerald, chairman of the first auto dealer group in North America to be certified to the environmental standard ISO14001, calls on regulators to consider their options before punishing consumers for the emissions failure plaguing VW.

"The Wall Street Journal's writer Holman Jenkins has the best idea," said Fitzgerald, "offset their excess nitrogen oxide with an investment in energy that helps consumers, rather than punishes them." Writer Homan Jenkins suggested that VW pay to keep open some of America's NOX free nuclear plants. Jenkins noted that the 482,000 U.S. Jettas and Passats identified by VW produce an almost equivalent amount of NOX as a 1,000-megawatt gas-fueled power plant, while a nuclear plant produces zero. "It's a novel idea that would really benefit consumers and the environment," said Fitzgerald.

The current emission standard requires that cars after 2008 be restricted to 0.07 grams of nitrogen oxide output per mile. According to the WSJ, "it represents about 1/40th the output of the average full-size pick up (gasoline or diesel), of which more than 10 million are on the road." Rather than anger customers by lowering their mileage and horsepower, VW might consider an alternative like investing what would have been spent on a recall on nuclear power.

Fitzgerald is the first dealership group to become an EPA Green Power Partner Member of the EPA Green Power Leadership Club and a long-standing member of the Clean Energy Partnership in Maryland. All energy at Fitzgerald facilities is purchased from Green renewable energy sources, with 100 percent wind power used at all of the dealerships in Maryland. The Germantown Maryland dealership is the first LEED Gold certified dealership east of the Mississippi.

See Holman Jenkins' op-ed at http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-settle-the-vw-scandal-1444169764

To learn more about Fitzgerald's commitment to the environment, please visit www.FitzMall.com or view our short 30-second video: https://youtu.be/Owhx1GPE4LI?list=PLT8VC3kmnhpfx5NgRgIIPUszIBqZP0v1y

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SOURCE Fitzgerald Auto Malls