Highly Successful Program Shows Democratic Congress’ Clean Energy Plan is Working

WASHINGTON (July 31, 2009) – Rep. Edward J. Markey, one of the authors of the Cash for Clunkers program, today praised his colleagues and the White House for taking such swift action to extend the wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program. The House of Representatives today passed by an overwhelming vote to extend the program with an additional $2 billion in funding. Rep. Markey also pushed to ensure that the money to fund the extension, which will be used from a clean energy fund from the Recovery Act, would be replenished to further America’s clean energy goals.

Preliminary statistics from carmakers and others show that the oil-savings results are phenomenal:

--During the week that the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program was launched, GM’s small car sales increased 54.8 percent over the preceding week.

--The leading Ford vehicle being purchased under the program is the 28 mpg Ford Focus at nearly 30 percent of all Ford sales.

--Toyota reports that 78% of their Cash for Clunkers volume were the Corolla, Prius, Camry, RAV 4 and Tacoma, with a resulting average of 30 mpg.

--Hyundai is reporting a 59 percent increase in fuel economy compared to the old vehicle—which averaged 140,000 miles.

Below is the statement of Rep. Markey, Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming:

“This program has proven to be the ultimate triple play: It is good for the economy, good for energy independence and great for consumers.

“Here in Congress, creating a successful program usually takes a while to get up to speed, but the Cash for Clunkers program is like a race car that went from zero to 60 in three seconds.

 “Cash for Clunkers was originally part of the Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation, showing the work of the Democratic Congress on clean energy is succeeding for the American people.

“This program has exceeded even the highest expectations. Cash for Clunkers may be the fastest federal rulemaking ever completed, and one of the fastest federal programs to exhaust its resources. I commend my colleagues and the Obama administration for its tireless efforts to both implement it and extend its lifetime.”

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