Obama's Green Energy Math Spends $4 Million To Save $116,000; UPDATE: Linked By Hot Air
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A new federal car buy program that is part of President Obama’s green energy plan is going to be tested in San Diego and four other cities. Just like all other proposals that Obama and the Democrats are making lately, it makes no sense at all. The government will by just over 100 electric cars, a cost of over $4 million in order to save $116,000 a year in gas. From Sign On San Diego:
San Diego will be one of five cities in which the federal workers will test plug-in cars for government use.
The General Services Administration said Tuesday it plans to buy 116 plug-in electric vehicles, including 101 Chevrolet Volts and 10 Nissan Leafs.
It will put 13 Volts and four Leafs with San Diego workers, and will also install charging stations to serve them. The cars will go to workers with the Navy, the Marine Corps, Veterans Affiars and the Department of Transportation.
The Volts can travel about 35 miles on electricity alone, and have gasoline engines that kick in when the battery is depleted. The all-electric Leaf has a range of about 100 miles, according to Nissan.
“Diversifying our transportation fleet with hybrids, electric vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles is a critical element in President Obama’s long-term plan to break our dependence on foreign oil and invest in America’s growing clean energy economy,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a news conference Tuesday.
The purchases announced Tuesday are expected to cut gas usage by almost 29,000 gallons a year, saving taxpayer an estimated $116,000 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 257 metric tons, said GSA administrator Martha Johnson.
The GSA manages a fleet of 650,000 vehicles, the largest single fleet in the country. About 12,000 of which are hybrids now.
The purchase announced Tuesday is a tiny fraction that fleet, but an important first step, said Michael Robertson, the GSA’s chief of staff.
“We wanted to start with a number that was large enough to track, but manageable for deployment in the country,” he said.
The GSA is paying $38,500 each for the Volts. It’s also buying 10 Nissan Leaf hatchbacks for $33,000 apiece, and $32,500 for five Think City EV models, from a Finnish company…
I am not that good at math but 101 Vots at $38,500 equals $3,888,500. Add to that 10 Leafs costing $33,000 and you get $4,218,500. Now add 5 EV’s at 32,500 and the grand total is $4,508,500. At a savings of only $116,000 a year in gas it would take 39 years to offset the costs of the cars. How much sense does that make? The battery life of these cars does not last more than ten years the last time I checked so the costs of buying new “green” cars will never be offset. Another waste of your tax dollars in the name of saving your tax dollars. Isn’t Liberalism great?
UPDATE:
Thanks to Hot Air for the link.
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2 Responses and Counting...
Hey, genius, the $116K/year savings doesn’t need to offset the cost of the cars. It’s not like cars that get shitty mileage are free. Regardless, the point wasn’t to save $116K/year. This is a very small step in the “long-term plan to break our dependence on foreign oil and invest in America’s growing clean energy economy,” as the guy quoted in the story says.
The "savings" was part of the argument. It is part of larger myth that going green will produce jobs and lead to an economic recovery. And it is not at all clear that these cars are good for the environment in the long term. The batteries have to be thrown somewhere once they are no longer usable. Land fill anyone?
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