Oh boy. The other day I read this article on the repercussions of the Kash for Klunkers program and it made me sick to my stomach.

After watching Self-Reliant man spend the entire cool season building an engine, to think of the deliberate destruction of functioning vehicle engines really breaks my heart. For example, I repeat this quote from the article:

The program requires that the clunkers be put out of service for good, so dealers must destroy the engines on cars that are traded in. We watched this process yesterday at the DCH Paramus Honda in Paramus, N.J. It is quite laborious and potentially dangerous. And it certainly is final.

Nick Clites, who is in charge of used cars for the dealership, was prepping a 1988 BMW 535IS, with 214,000 miles on the odometer, for its death. He drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles and gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved the car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a glass-like substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.

Is it just me who thinks this is absolutely nuts? How many of these cars were in much better shape than true clunkers that are still out on the road, owned by people too poor to consider buying a new car, even with a $4,500 discount? And we are deliberately destroying them, for what? Just so someone can buy a new car that gets at least 4 mpg better? This is insane.

How much CO2 is produced by the manufacture of a new car? Anybody think about it?

But with those in charge in Washington these days, I am not surprised at the insanity. This was a program that helped a select group of people, dealerships for sure, and not poorer people but middle class at least. Yes, new cars got sold, but junk car businesses are now faced with the prospect of handling thousands of junk cars, all at the same time, making less profit on them (after all, they can't do anything with the engines anymore), and depositing untold amounts of material, that which cannot be salvaged, into the landfill.

It has been said that concern about climate change is the new religion, and I see how this is true. The biggest "sin" these cars committed was being unable to go more than 18 miles on a gallon of gasoline. So they got the ultimate punishment -- execution. It's all about CO2 now. Nobody cares about solid waste. Just CO2.

What do real environmentalists have to say about Kash for Klunkers? Or do we only concern ourselves with the earth when it means getting people to go out and buy something new? Let's get them to buy wind turbines, solar heating systems, hybrid cars, more efficient air conditioning systems? Don't really do anything to get people to conserve energy, or purchase less "stuff" so that less energy gets consumed in producing the stuff. Just figure out ways to make people buy expensive new gizmos, equipment, and vehicles by offering rebates for their purchase.

How many tons of CO2 does a human being produce in their lifetime? How about in a year? Is the new religion going to spawn a Kash for Grandmas and Grandpas program some day? With the plans going ahead on the health"care" bill, one never knows.