Doing the Math

File under: it's better to feel good than to do good.

On the Cash for Clunkers program:
The analysis on the “Cash for Clunkers” program is below and can also be found on the web at www.atr.org.

• A “clunker” that gets 15mpg and travels 12,000 miles per year, consumes 800 gallons of gasoline per year
• A new “fuel-efficient” vehicle that gets 25mpg and travels 12,000 miles per year, consumes 480 gallons of gasoline per year
• The average clunker transaction reduces US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons/year
• With 700,000 vehicles participating in this program, that’s 224 million gallons/year saved because of this program – roughly 5 million barrels of oil/year
• 5 million barrels costs about $375 million at $75/barrel
• The “Cash for Clunkers” costs $3 billion

Also: 5 million barrels of oil represents about 1/4 of one day oil consumption for the USA.

via