Cash for Clunkers

I've been away the last few weeks...sorry my first post isn't quite about plants, but since this is a blog about sustainability I had to touch on this. The current administration thinks that throwing away money is a great idea without ever knowing where it actually ends up. When they run out, just print more! What is wrong with this thinking? Let me tell you starting with the Cash for Clunkers idea...

So you have an old car that's not environmentally friendly. The government wants to give you money so that you will trade it in and get something more eco-friendly. Sounds great on the surface...you'll SAVE THE WORLD! But that's where it is most flawed...keep in mind that we are in a recession. A lot of people are out of work and a car is not a small item to buy, expensive even. So a person trades in their "clunker" that they do not have to make payments on any longer and gets a new car, which comes with monthly payments AND full coverage insurance required since the bank isn't going to loan you any money if they are held liable for anything you do without it! Suddenly, you are in a money crunch! What if, like my taxi driver in Vegas, her husband gets injured and isn't able to work? Now you're down to one salary, car payments and full coverage insurance to pay on it!

PEOPLE!!! THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! OBAMA IS NOT OUT TO SAVE YOU!

Also, did you ever stop to think what happened to the old clunkers they took? I'll bet you anything they got sent to Mexico or China. So they are STILL polluting the air! Don't think for one moment that a perfectly good SUV did not get sent elsewhere to make more money on rather than taking it to the scrap.

On top of it all...making a new car would cause more pollution than keeping an old one! Not all eco-friendly products are made w/o expending energy of some sort. It usually boils down to natural resources...the very ones we are trying not to use.

Think about it!


In gardening news...my habaneros are ripening up and I just harvested 3 tomatoes today.