German court keeps hearing farmer's climate case against VW
Environmentalists are claiming a small legal victory after a court in Germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a local farmer seeking to force automaker Volkswagen to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles
BERLIN (AP) — Environmentalists claimed a small legal victory Friday after a court in Germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a local farmer seeking to force automaker Volkswagen to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles.
Ulf Allhoff-Cramer says drier soil and heavier rains due to climate change are harming his fields, cattle and commercial forests.
He argues that Volkswagen is partly to blame for this, as the mass production of vehicles running on gasoline contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
During a first hearing in May, a regional court in the western German town of Detmold appeared to cast doubt on those claims, with judges asking the plaintiff and his lawyers to provide further details to back up their legal arguments.
