Cash for Clunkers - A good idea?

Unfortunately, I forgot to post my article yesterday, and so I am writing one today. Amber will also write an article today so that we remain on schedule.

So, back on track....

I am going to be talking a little bit about the Cash for Clunkers program. The idea was that this program would encourage people to turn in their old, fuel inefficient cars for new cars that are more fuel efficient. The people who turned in their old cars for new ones would receive money off their new car for their old car. This was thought to help the environment, save gas, jump start the economy, and help the car industry. But were all of these things accomplished?

Technically, the answer is yes. Cash for Clunkers is expected to save 72 million gallons of gas this year, even though it cost 3 billion in tax payer dollars to fund it. According to fightcashforclunkers.org, car maintenance could save up to 12 billion gallons of gas a year. And, if everyone would just take care of their own cars, we wouldn't have to spend tax payer dollars, we would spend our own money. And the small amount of money that it takes to check your car regularly, is a lot less than the amount of money that it takes to buy a new car!

Economically, and environmentally, it makes a lot more sense to give tax credits to those who keep their cars properly maintained. I understand that this would not help the car industry or the economy. But it would save a lot more money to not spend loads of tax payer money on new cars, but just on tax cuts for maintaining our current cars. Plus, junking that many cars isn't good for the environment either. Cash for Clunkers was a good idea, and whether or not it will work to jump start the economy, which was it's main goal, is something that we will have to wait and see. Although it was a good idea, I believe that there were better, less expensive ideas that could have been created.

The article that I am summarizing today came from today's paper, not yesterday's paper. The New York Times article that I have chosen to summarize is Japan Calls Hummer H3 Fuel-Efficient, by Hiroko Tabuchi. This definitely surprised me! But apparently, since under Japan's own "cash for clunkers" program, they gave tax cuts for buying new fuel efficient cars. Originally, they didn't accept any American cars onto their list because of different standards. Obama pressured them into adding American made cars, and so, among others, they added the Hummer H3 to their list. This is because, according to Japan's standards, their 16 miles per gallon average compared to their 4700 pounds that it weighs, they are actually fuel efficient! Personally, I believe that even if Hummers are fuel efficient based on their weight, there are many other cars that are more fuel efficient that can be bought. Hummers are still ridiculously inefficient compared to almost all other cars on the road. Nonetheless, Hummer sales in Japan have increased 7.7 percent.

-Morgan