Cash for Clunkers - Just Do The Blinking Math! ~:0) Hey World - You're gonna love this one from the Former United States - It's my understanding that the New Regime's "Cash-For-Clunkers" Automobile Trade in Program designed to convince Americans to buy more fuel efficient rides went something like this... Trade in a clunker (read as - any car that gets less than a bazillion mpg) on a new car and the U.S. Government gives the buyer about $4500 U.S.Dollars toward the transaction. What that can mean for fuel economy should run something along these lines - A car that drives about 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons of gazoline at 15 miles per gallon. - - - - Now a car that drives 12,000 miles in a year at 25 miles per gallon uses about 480 gallons. So that means that the average Cash-For-Clunkers deal recently paid by U.S.S.A. taxpayers made a difference of 320 gallons of gazoline used in a year by each car sold in that timeframe. - - - - Okay, stay with me now - the American Government claims that 700,000 cars were traded in for a better milage model saving a grand total of 224 Million Gallons in a Year. It takes about 5 millions of barrels of oil to produce that amount of Gaz - and 5 million barrels of oil works out to be about 6 hours of the Gazoline consumed in a single day in the States. That means they saved enough Gaz to run all the cars for about one quarter of a single day... Now for more theatre of the Absurd - 5 million barrels of crude goes for about $350 Million U.S. Dollars if your getting a barrel for $75 U.S.D.s per. - - - - - So I reckon the Yanks spent $3 Billion U.S.Dollars to save $350 Million U.S.Dollars... And they call us out here in the Northern Territories Dumb - Ha! Good Work Yanks - the Whole World is Watching ( Oh, and BTW - all those "Clunkers" traded in - yeah well the U.S. Government made the Car Dealers ruin the engines on those autos so they couldn't be used by anyone - not anywhere - Blimey!!! (we still love ya though Yanks even though yer minds have completely gone ) ~:0)