Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cash for clunkers revisited

Here is something to think about!
A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year.

A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.

They claim 700,000 vehicles participated, so that's 224 million gallons saved per year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption.

More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars

So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax money to save that$350 million.

We spent $8.57 for every dollar saved.

How good a deal was that ???

Well, they'll probably do a great job with health care though!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You failed to mention that the more efficient autos will produce fewer pollutants. Additionally, 700,000 cars were/are being recycled, producing work for truck drivers that haul the car carcasses, and scrap for steel mills. Tax revenue (although rather small) generated by the new car sales went to states and municipalities, and income and wage taxes paid by sales people who might otherwise have been collecting unemployment also helped to balance government budgets.

If you single out only the one benefit, that yes, the program appears absurd, but there were more benefits that simply the amount of oil conserved.

Zen said...

and you are forgetting the group of people that got royally screwed by cash for clunkers, the poor!!

you see, all those cars that normally are sold to the working poor and poor in general are scrap now. what are they supposed to buy to get around???

Cars4Charities said...

Not only were the poor hurt by cash for clunkers, so were taxpayers, auto repair shops and charities that rely on the profits from car donation.

Anonymous said...

what the fuck is wrong with you zen. those cars don't just disappear. this is just more of your fucktard idiocy

Zen said...

anon, they went to the junkyard you fooking imbecile. Dealers were required to pour sodium silicate into the engine and run it until it seized. If you're going to call names, please pull your fooking head out of your ass and learn at least an iota about what you are writing about.