- Not really good for the environment. Seems to be purely a boost to the car industry.
- I found out they destroy the engines, which I find disturbingly wasteful. Although a device may not work well, that doesn't make it useless or otherwise salvageable.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Problems with recent "Cash for Clunkers" program
While I applaud the Obama administration trying to do things that are simultaneously good for the economy and good for the environment, this program has two major issues:
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I only have two things to say:
1. I think its great news to find out that the new cars people are buying on average get 9 more miles to the gallon (as reported on MSNBC and CNN). While the effects might seem small at the moment doesn't mean continuing the program is bad. This problem is large. It took many years to get where we are now and it'll probably take just as long to fix it. Anything we do to move in the opposite direction of Canyonero mentality is good. Everyone wants a quick fix and there just isn't one.
2. I understand the reasoning behind destroying the engines. If older engines aren't available and parts become scarce there will be less fuel inefficient cars out there. On the flip side of that, I'm highly surprised that the administration did not think about recycling the engines. There must be plenty of metal that can be salvaged. It seems the whole goal of this program is to reduce the carbon footprint. We can't exchange one pollutant for another. Also, the used car market will not dry up for people who can't afford a new car. Carmax's business is built on used cars. Even older (90's) foreign cars like Toyota and Honda are very fuel efficient. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr/
Some more fact checking is definitely in order cuz I'm hearing the exact same argument the first article is making all over Fox News which is always a red flag in my book. The first article is admittedly a guest opinion but does not cite her information source for what she's proposing. Also, the current pump price is different everywhere some people will save more and some less.
I admit, I'm not an expert on this. I haven't done a lot of reading on it, but I have been watching plenty of newscasts on the subject from the different major news sources and these are my thoughts.
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