Mal Occhio: Feinstein Kiboshes Cash for Clunkers. For Now.

I’m beginning to like the environment. First, the greens spiked Charles “Double Nickel” Hurley’s nomination for the top slot at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As we reported earlier, Hurley’s federal pension plans came a cropper for daring to suggest that larger cars were safer than fuel misers (at the IIHS, back in the day). Now, tree huggers have torpedoed the current cash-for-clunkers bill. Reuters reports that California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a friend of the Friends of the Earth, is not happy with the compromise cash-for-clunkers bill.

Here’s the [your] money shot from the lady who wrote the Senate version: “Essentially what it means is that perfectly good vehicles would be scrapped, so that vehicles with below average fuel economy could be purchased.” Yes way! It gets better.

Feinstein referred to the compromise as the “automobile industry’s version.”

“American taxpayers have already pledged $33 billion in bailout funds to this flagging industry — without any special considerations for achieving greater fuel economy,” Feinstein said. “This is unacceptable.”

By jove she’s right! This IS a boondoggle! The fact that Feinstein’s objection is that it’s not the RIGHT KIND of boondoggle troubles me not one bit. What was that about the friend of my enemy being my frenemy? Like that. Only where TTAC tilts at windmills at the margins, Diane gets the MSM to put up its metaphorical speed bumps and steamroller those suckers. Oh wait. She likes windmills. Anyway . . .

Under the House bill, owners of small trucks and SUVs face even a lower threshold than car owners to get a voucher. They could get a $3,500 voucher if their new vehicle gets at least 2 miles per gallon more than the old truck or SUV. The voucher increases to $4,500 for a difference of at least 5 miles per gallon. For larger trucks, the new truck only has to exceed the fuel efficiency of the old vehicle by 1 mile per gallon to generate a $3,500 voucher.