Cash for Clunkers

The bill made it through congress about two weeks ago and has now been signed by Obama. The quick summary is that for cars, if it gets 18mpg or less you’ll get $4500 trade for anything getting 10mpg improvement. For trucks, that $4500 comes for a 5mpg improvement. Both have lower requirements which get $3500.

I have several issues with this:

1. It’s essentially tax payers subsidizing new cars which is just stupid. Even stupider is pointedly subsidizing those who possibly just made careless choices when gas was $0.82/gal.
2. If it’s to be a convincing “green” bill, subsidizing anything that counts as a truck is rather silly.
3. It only applies to new vehicle purchases. In some cases the environmental impact of a new car’s production is greater than the expected emissions savings over the life of the car. It’s also an issue because it severely limits who can take advantage of this – someone who can’t afford a brand new car probably still cannot afford a brand new car after $4500 discount.
4. It was passed by tacking it onto a war spending bill, which is bullshit, not just in this case, but as a general rule. Wasn’t Obama supposed to quit spending money on war?

The major complaint I have read is people whining about having a piece of junk car that still gets 25mpg and thus getting nothing from this bill. While unfortunate, the bill’s purpose is not to help you buy a nicer car, it’s to reduce fuel consumption. The most commonly suggested compromise is money for any vehicle based solely on % improvement in mileage. The issue here is that an old car that gets 25mpg replaced with hybrid gets 45mpg (80% improvement) saves less fuel per year than moving from my Jeep which gets 15mpg to something that gets 22mpg (46% improvement). Despite the percentages, the former would save 133 gallons of fuel per year while the latter would save 254 gallons – near double. So, that being said, money allotted based on expected fuel savings might make good sense.

So, as said, I don’t really approve of the bill, but since I do pay taxes and all, I have little moral issue with taking full advantage of it to replace the Jeep. Which, pronounced in Spanish is Heep.

Also, for anyone who cares, Consumer’s Reports appears to have one of the most complete yet simple breakdowns of the bill:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/06/president-obama-signs-cash-for-clunkers-car-allowance-rebate-system.html