Clunker Math

[Mtn.man]

The person who calculated this bit of information has been a professor at
the University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last
forty some years. I never looked at the clunker program in such depth----

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 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 dollars
to save $350 million.
We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though.

[Byte Stryke]

The person who calculated this bit of information has been a professor at
the University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last
forty some years. I never looked at the clunker program in such depth----

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 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 dollars
to save $350 million.
We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though.

Small Math/Argument Flaw

A barrel of oil is 42 gallons.
The amount of gasoline that can be distilled from crude depends on where the
crude is obtained. Venezuelan crude yields little gasoline (about 5&#37,
whereas Texas or Arabian crude yields about 30% gasoline. This is called
"straight run" gasoline.
However, the distilled components of the crude oil can be further processed
into gasoline by various other methods (catalytic and thermal cracking,
hydrocracking, catalytic reforming, alkylation, and polymerization) to
yield even more gasoline.
Bob Erck

So as the argument is made it fails to consider Costs and saving in respect to other products manufactured from crude or byproducts and labor costs of the refining process.
This creates fluctuations in supply and demand thus causing fluctuations in market prices of petroleum by-products such as heating oil, engine oil, etc etc...


Not arguing for or against anyone here...
Just saying that the argument as presented is Imperfect.

Cash-for-Clunkers killed the SUV
More interesting Information HERE

[Colorado Luckydog]

The best thing about cash for clunkers was....it got about 90% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.

[spleify]

The best thing about cash for clunkers was....it got about 90% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.

[funkfool]

BTW: Took me a minute.. but I finally saw the jeep...
nice spleify...

/l , [____],
l----L -OlllllllO-
()_) ()_)------)_)

[ronaldrwl]

This is saving money, jobs and the environment the obama way. Spend a billion, save a million. Kill the economy, create lots of temporary census collecting jobs. Aid & comfort to our enemies, punish our allies. Lies and deceptions in every speech, censor free market talk radio. “What a wonderful world....”

[cowboykjohnson]

Wow that's super fail!

[Hoosier]

Cash-for-Clunkers killed the SUV

Didn't SUV sales drive off the proverbial cliff the year before, when gas prices spiked to $3+ a gallon?

H.

[Byte Stryke]

you mean when the REAL thieves drove the prices up for their own gain?
Yes.

you know what terrifies me the most is that our own government and the people in charge of major corporations are robbing us blind everyday and no one seems to notice or care!

"keep head down.. I have a mortgage to pay... don't want to make waves... don't want to cry out... gonna just keep my head down and keep taking it in the ass."

and so it continues to happen because "that's the way its always been done."

[GreenScoutII]

Yeah not to mention that the clunker is almost certainly paid for and as such, the registration is cheaper, insurance is cheaper, and, depending on the vehicle, maintenence is probably cheaper and easier. I really didn't follow the logic of the cash for clunkers program. I just saw it as a means to put more people further into debt at a time when debt is particularly dangerous.