Get Gas Guzzlers Off The Road
Kurt Brouwer May 15th, 2008
Source: Wikipedia Commons
Here is an interesting idea from Investor’s Business Daily:
To The Junk Heap (Investor’s Business Daily, May 14, 2008)
…Nothing gets worse fuel mileage than an old clunker that runs poorly. As we’ve noted before, since 10% of the country’s almost 140 million privately owned cars and light-duty trucks emit more than half the auto-based pollution, it’s safe to say that that same 10% also account for most of the gas-guzzling. If only we could get them off the road.
It seems to us that those who drive those gasoline-thirsty wrecks would be as eager to sell or trade their cars as those who’ve grown frustrated filling up their relatively new SUVs and light trucks. And wouldn’t removing them drive oil demand downward, with a fall in price to follow?
We’ve suggested that Washington fund a buyback program - by shifting funds from one or more expenditures, not through new spending - to get the old cars off the road.
…Few cars built before 1978, the first year of the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, should be found on our roads. Classic cars and collectibles are, of course, an exception. But any smoke-belching, wheezing bomb of a car should be removed.
Washington could get 14 million autos - that culpable one-tenth - off the streets by moving $21 billion from other programs and into a vehicle buyback plan. Owners would be given $1,500 that could be used for a down payment for a high-mileage car in return for their old car.
…[Many are] trying to come up with creative ways to cut a U.S. oil demand that, at roughly 20% of global demand, is the highest of any country. Fielding a national fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles would do just that. The first step is to get the guzzlers off the road.
Investor’s Business Daily or IBD is a newspaper and online service that has provided tools for stock investors for decades. In its editorial writing, IBD takes a conservative tack on most political issues. By the way, it’s part of a series that IBD has been doing on the reasons behind the high cost of oil (see IBD Series: Breaking The Back Of High Oil).
It is fascinating that this idea to buy up gas guzzlers first appeared in a conservative, libertarian publication. However, this is an idea that should also appeal to environmentalists. We have known for decades that older cars and trucks produce a disproportionate amount of pollution, so why not figure out how to get them off the road?
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