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Cash for Clunkers plan does little for planet
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by Barbara Mathieson | November 5, 2009 at 05:14 am
57 views | 22 Recommendations | 3 comments
In fact, I never knew that the program was initially aimed to get more fuel efficient cars on the road. I thought that it was to help tanking American car companies. The report says that some of the clunkers got better gas mileage than the new cars. Only in America.
Study: Most deals provided meager gains in mileage
By Ted Bridis • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 5, 2009
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WASHINGTON — The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.
"If we're looking for the environmental story here, we're going to be disappointed," said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive at Edmunds.com, an analyst firm. "It might have started out from the perspective of improving the environment, but it got detoured as a way to stimulate the economy."
The single most common swap — which occurred more than 8,200 times — involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s.
They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 08:46 on November 5th, 2009
Yeah, it was solely an economic move: adding 1mpg or so to overall fuel efficiency does nothing whatsoever for the environment. The "greenest" car is the one you already have, since getting rid of it will generate so much waste.
at 09:06 on November 5th, 2009
It basically helped he upper middle class by providing an incentive to get rid of their older second cars. It did nothing for the environment or those on the lower income scale. They still drive their outdated clonkers.
at 20:58 on November 7th, 2009
my F150 gets 17.5 mpg. New ones are 19 mpg for the same basic truck. big whooooop.
The "enviromental" thing was Obama's bone to the greenies.