According to records filed in the case, Achtemeier conspired with mechanics in garages and operators of truck fleets to disable the anti-pollution software installed on diesel trucks.
Coconspirators who wanted to disable their trucks’ pollution control hardware system—a process commonly known as “deleting”—sought Achtemeier’s help to trick the truck’s software into believing the emissions control systems were still functional, a process known as “tuning.”
Monitoring software on a deleted truck will detect that the pollution control hardware is not functioning and will prevent the truck from running. Achtemeier disabled the monitoring software on his client’s trucks by connecting to laptops he had provided to various coconspirators. Some of the coconspirators would pass the laptop on to others seeking to have the anti-pollution software disabled on their trucks. Once the laptop was hooked up to the truck’s onboard computer, Achtemeier could access it from his computer and tune the software designed to slow the truck if the pollution control device was missing or malfunctioning. Achtemeier could “tune” trucks remotely, which enabled him to maximize his environmental impact and personal profit.
So it’s a Captain Planet villain, but dumb.
Right, a Republican, exactly.
The way they’ve all reacted to climate change denialism by actively trying to make pollution as bad as possible is wild. Even if the entire world’s scientific community was somehow wrong about global warming, shit like this and “rolling coal” would still be terrible for air quality, but these fucknuts apparently don’t care as long as they get to “own the libs”. This is peak “eating a shit sandwich to force other people to smell your breath” energy.
People are dumb. I once saw a kid on a field trip shit his pants out of spite because we had to leave a petting zoo. It wasn’t an accident. He looked the teacher in the eye and letterrip
That’s a child who hasn’t learned how to emotionally regulate. It’s much worse when it’s an adult who is emotionally unintelligent. These people aren’t necessarily stupid, they’ve just never been taught how to manage themselves or given the tools to self soothe.
I’m saying millions of adults haven’t moved beyond pant shitting.
I understand. I’m highlighting that it’s not that these people are “dumb” - they’re capable of learning why climate change is an important subject matter - but rather that their inability to emotionally regulate results in them doubling down like a child, even if deep down they know they’re wrong.
They react to their emotions rather than taking a moment to ask themselves why that is their response in the first place; this needs to be taught.