Cash for Clunkers was a bit of a clunker for the environment too

From the AP's Ted Bridis in the C-J...

The idea behind the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program was to put more fuel-efficient cars on the road.

But the most common deals replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press....[in many cases] an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers....

The data, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that more than 95,000 of the new vehicles purchased under the program — about one in seven — got less than 20 mpg.

...the government reported spending a total of $562,500 in rebates for new cars and trucks that got worse or the same mileage as the trade-ins — in apparent violation of the program's requirements....

The data show the average fuel economy was 15.8 mpg for the old vehicles and 24.9 for the new ones. But plenty of consumers bought relatively low-mileage trucks and SUVs with the help of the rebates....

In at least 145 cases, mostly involving trucks, the government reported consumers traded old vehicles that got better or the same mileage as the new vehicle....In at least 15 deals in nine states, owners of large pickups cashed in old trucks for between $3,500 and $4,500 toward new Hummer H3s that got only 16 mpg....In at least 32 deals, drivers traded older vehicles for new large trucks that got only 14 mpg.