Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Cash for Clunkers

A Better — and Cooler — Version of “Cash for Clunkers”

bilde.jpg(Photo: Free Press)

During the Senate's debate over giving $2 billion more to the "cash for clunkers" car rebate program, John McCain (R-AZ) quipped that "cash for refrigerators" might be next in line.

Does McCain know that it's already happening -- with a much bigger environmental boost than the auto version?

In Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports today that refrigerator recycling programs have taken more than 1,000 power-swigging models off residents' hands in less than two months, distributing a $50 rebate for each trade-in.

Similar refrigerator-rebate programs are also succeeding in New Jersey, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

Here's where the superiority to "cash for clunkers" comes in: The car rebates, which run as high as $4,500 per purchase, ultimately cost taxpayers around $160 per ton of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere, assuming that current patterns of fuel-efficiency improvement hold.

But "cash for refrigerators" programs typically offer between $25 and $50 for the removal of old fridges that emit chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the chemicals behind the growing ozone hole that were eliminated from home appliances in the 1990s.

Ridding a home of a CFC-spewing fridge removes about five tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, recycler Sam Sirkin told the New York Times last week. That works out to a cost of $10 per ton for the richest refrigerator rebate program -- more than 10 times cheaper than "cash for clunkers."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Welcome Our Robot Overlords

The robotaxi field is growing, but with buyouts and now possibly layoffs at the U.S. DOT, will anyone be left to regulate them?

July 30, 2025

Shifting Gears to Urban Delivery to Bikes

Bikes can revolutionize delivery in urban areas. A new report outlines how policymakers can spur them in their communities.

July 30, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Reel in the Years

Republicans continue to roll back the Biden administration's legacy, most recently ending the DOT's Neighborhood Access and Equity program.

July 29, 2025

What Will It Take To Give Victims and Advocates a Voice at US DOT?

A new bill would put a dedicated "roadway safety advocate" in the halls of US DOT — and you can support it right now.

July 29, 2025

Monday’s Headlines E-Biking Away

There's a million destinations if we had a little help from the government to afford to buy an e-bike.

July 28, 2025

How Trump is Exploiting a Very Real Trucking Safety Concern to Crack Down on Immigrants

The Trump administration will crack down on truck drivers who don't speak English and the people who give them licenses. Some advocates say that anti-immigrant spin is distracting much broader safety problems that deserve bipartisan support.

July 28, 2025
See all posts