Cash for Clunkers destroyed $2.4 billion in working capital in 2009. The government paid dealers to pour sodium silicate into 690,000 perfectly functioning engines -- rendering them permanently inoperable. These weren't junkyard cars. The program required trade-ins to be drivable and insured. You had working vehicles that poor families desperately needed, and bureaucrats systematically destroyed them to boost GM sales (while GM was under government ownership, naturally).Cash for Clunkers destroyed $2.4 billion in working capital in 2009. The government paid dealers to pour sodium silicate into 690,000 perfectly functioning engines -- rendering them permanently inoperable.
— Handre (@Handre) March 31, 2026
These weren't junkyard cars. The program required trade-ins to be…
The environmental impact? Pure theater. Most clunkers got 18+ mpg -- hardly gas guzzlers. Meanwhile, building new cars generates 25 tons of CO2 per vehicle before they leave the factory. The program likely increased net emissions while making transportation less affordable for everyone earning under $50k.
