Causecast

by MELISSA JUN ROWLEY, Contributing Writer

With global warming on the tips of everyone’s tongues, the word “diesel” has become a frowned upon word in America’s lexicon. Hybrids have become the top-choice alternative to gasoline-powered cars, and electric vehicles have become the envy of every eco-friendly individual and corporation. But according to luxury car manufacturer Audi, “diesel is no longer a dirty word.”

In a recent commercial, the car maker claims that if one third of the nation’s drivers switched to clean diesel cars, Americans would no longer be dependent on foreign oil. Audi calculates daily oil imports would drop by 1.5 million barrels, because diesel engines are 30% more fuel-efficient than gas-powered models.

According to Audi’s website, the new Audi TDI clean diesel engine exhibits “excellent performance, high fuel efficiency, and low-emissions output.” As part of a campaign promoting the engine, Audi will donate $1 to the Nature Conservancy’s carbon offset program for every Facebook member who participates in the cause. The company is offering to give up to $25,000.

The Nature Conservatory’s senior media relations manager, Christina Mestre, explains: “Audi is supporting one of the Conservancy’s reforestation efforts in the Lower Mississippi Valley that is working to protect and restore forestlands to mitigate carbon emissions.”

Twenty percent of carbon emissions come from deforestation. According to Audi, the new TDI engine decreases this kind of diffusion by the same percentage.
The grassroots environmental organization, the Sierra Club, has done extensive research on clean diesel-powered engines. Deputy Press Secretary for the Sierra Club Josh Dorner says, “clean diesel cars are definitely more fuel efficient, which would lesson our dependency on oil, and less sulfur is released by these cars.” However, Dorner also explains that health and pollution concerns are not eliminated by TDI engines.

According to research conducted by the Sierra Club on the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, which is currently the most fuel efficient car on the road, it still falls short by four points on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ten-point air pollution scale.

As for the Audi TDI, we’ll have to wait and see. Diesel certainly isn’t the savior Audi’s making it out to be, but it stands up pretty well considering our current standards. Audi’s doing a pretty big push with this campaign, and you can watch all their commercials on the Audi For America YouTube channel.

Photo by Mike Babcock, flickr.