Got a clunker? Receive $4,500 for a new car!

There is a bill currently pending in the U.S. senate that would help encourage drivers to trade in their older, less fuel-efficient vehicles for newer more efficient models. The financial incentive called “Cash for Clunkers” includes $4,500 to help offset the costs of buying a new car and junking the old one. The old clunker must get no more than 17 miles per gallon and the new one must have at least 24 miles per gallon. If it is a light truck, then the new model must give at least 20 miles per gallon.

This incentive fits nicely with the new fuel standards announced by the Obama administration recently requiring automobile manufacturers to manufacture fuel efficient vehicles producing an average gas mileage of 35.5 miles per gallon by the year 2016. As automakers prepare to launch these highly fuel efficient cars of the future, they are bound to introduce several models between now and then that will exceed today’s fuel economy standards. As more people sign up to junk their clunkers for the cash, the overall fuel efficiency of the nation should improve.