After being extended last month, the rebate program known as “Cash for Clunkers” (a.k.a CARS) is finally over due to overwhelming demand. With almost $1.9 billion in rebates, the U.S. government has been taken a bit by surprise in terms of the success of the program, leading to delays in payments to car dealerships, and some popular criticism of the program.
But in the bigger picture, the success of this program has to be taken as a positive step toward a new mindset. And as much as President Obama has touted the success of this program as the beginning of a new era, we must also realize that the average consumer was as enamored with the rebates, ranging from $3,500 to $4,500, as they were the environmental benefits. I don’t say this to be cynical, but it’s important to be realistic about this.
As a nation, the United States will not simply wake up with a new mindset overnight. There are politics at play, jobs at stake, and many skeptics who must be shown just how much damage our last fifty years has done to the planet. However, the success of the “Cash for Clunkers” program is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, even if there is still red tape to unwind.
As the environmental blog Greenpress noted, “this program was perhaps the seminal step towards weaning the public away from gas guzzlers and enabling them to more easily step into helping the environment. The program’s results have shown that, given the opportunity, people will ’step up’.”
[image via dave_7]
did CARS support a throw-away mentality? maybe. but it was an overwhelming success in terms of stimulating the economy in a productive way. cash for clunkers didnt just say spend spend spend, as other stimulus programs have done. CARS wasn’t about digging ditches for work’s sake. ~80% of the vehicles traded in were trucks and other gas guzzlers. our roads are cleaner because of this program, and our auto industry is better for it. more stimulus programs should mimic this model.