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This was not supposed to get out. So soon. I am not pleased...we need to have a sit with someone.
August 8, 2009
German Clunkers Get Second Life, Polluting in Foreign Lands
By CARTER DOUGHERTY
FRANKFURT — When the German government developed its pioneering cash-for-clunkers program, it neglected one small detail: making sure the clunkers no longer clunk.
Police investigators have concluded that the alluring premise of the program — providing generous incentives to people who replace aging, pollutant-spewing vehicles with environmentally-friendly models — is being undermined as cars that were supposed to have been junked are finding their way to markets in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Up to 50,000 clunkers have whistled past the automotive graveyard in Germany and found new life elsewhere, according to Ronald Schulze, an expert with the Association of Criminal Investigators, a professional group of police sleuths. Experienced thieves, he said in an interview on Friday, discovered “a market opportunity.”
“There is simply an already-established network for stealing cars in Germany,” Mr. Schulze said. “These crimes are committed by well-organized groups that have the manpower and the logistics.”
The cars are now churning out carbon dioxide and other pollutants in a host of foreign lands, undermining the ecological goals of the program. Some, investigators say, are even finding their way back to Germany.
“This program was about selling cars,” said Jürgen Resch, the director of German Environmental Help, an advocacy group. “We left open the question of what happens to the old ones.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/wo...html?ref=world
$1Billion......$2Billion......$3Billion.......
August 8, 2009
Police investigators have concluded that the alluring premise of the program — providing generous incentives to people who replace aging, pollutant-spewing vehicles with environmentally-friendly models — is being undermined as cars that were supposed to have been junked are finding their way to markets in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Up to 50,000 clunkers have whistled past the automotive graveyard in Germany and found new life elsewhere, according to Ronald Schulze, an expert with the Association of Criminal Investigators, a professional group of police sleuths. Experienced thieves, he said in an interview on Friday, discovered “a market opportunity.”
“There is simply an already-established network for stealing cars in Germany,” Mr. Schulze said. “These crimes are committed by well-organized groups that have the manpower and the logistics.”
The cars are now churning out carbon dioxide and other pollutants in a host of foreign lands, undermining the ecological goals of the program. Some, investigators say, are even finding their way back to Germany.
“This program was about selling cars,” said Jürgen Resch, the director of German Environmental Help, an advocacy group. “We left open the question of what happens to the old ones.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/wo...html?ref=world
$1Billion......$2Billion......$3Billion.......