A few years ago I traded in an SUV for a Pontiac Vibe, and upped my fuel efficiency from about 18 MPG to 28.5 MPG. I got $1,500 for the trade in because my Blazer had pretty high mileage and with gas prices going up the value of a gas hog was going down.
But maybe I should have held onto the Blazer. I would have tripled what I got for the trade under the cash for clunkers program. Of course, I would have spent the difference on the inflated tab for gasoline over the past couple of years, not to mention taking a month or two off the lifespan of the McMurdo Ice Shelf with all the extra carbon I was releasing.
Instead, I did the responsible thing and spent my money — not a government handout — on a smaller, fuel-efficient car, only to see people being rewarded today for hanging on to their old gas hogs. Once again, a bit of public policy that seems relatively benign has the downside of rewarding people for doing the wrong thing.
Look on the bright side: you did the right thing without being told. No one saw you. Any grade school teacher would call that “character”.
Comment by Local Eyes — August 4th, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
I don’t blame those that are taking advantage of the program at this time – why not? However, I totally agree the government interferance in the life span of anything – from economic cycles to car life – manipulates and changes the natural balance of what should be going on. For the last year, this country has seen more cars scrapped then sold. That could never continue and, we would have seen an improved natural balance in the demand of vehicles because of it. This program merely pulled those sales into today from the future. For every action – there is a reaction!
Comment by Robert Alvine — August 9th, 2009 @ 11:29 am