Biden Administration Wants Electric Vehicles To Replace Gas Guzzlers
NPR's Morning Edition features commentary by RFF Senior Fellow Josh Linn on a new iteration of the Cash for Clunkers program.
"CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: President Biden has embraced Senator Chuck Schumer's idea to pay people to turn in gas cars and buy electric ones like Cash for Clunkers, battery-powered edition. And when Josh Linn first heard about it, he was surprised.
JOSH LINN: I thought all the research, including my own, had sort of killed the idea, but it's come back.
DOMONOSKE: He's a professor at the University of Maryland, and he's one of many economists who found out that the original Cash for Clunkers just wasn't that effective. It was supposed to be an economic boost for auto companies and an eco-friendly initiative to get rid of old cars with terrible gas mileage. Every check sent a clunker to the crusher and a customer to dealership floors, at least theoretically. In fact, it did cut emissions a little, but despite spending billions of dollars...
LINN: It probably overall didn't affect total new vehicle sales all that much. Many of the people who participated in the program probably would have bought a new vehicle anyway."
