Hope and Fail

Exaggerating the benefits of new fed ‘green fleet’

Part of the $787 billion stimulus package was a provision to “green” up the federal fleet of automobiles. That resulted in the federal government purchasing more than 17,000 new vehicles — in the name of better fuel efficiency and operating a cleaner fleet.

Here’s what the General Services Administration has to say about the new cars:

GSA will use the new vehicles to replace older, less-efficient models in the federal fleet. By increasing fuel efficiency, the Recovery Act vehicles will save an estimated 16.7 million gallons of fuel over the next seven years, prevent 334 million pounds of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere, and save taxpayers at least $40 million in fuel costs. As the older vehicles being replaced are sold, the money from the sales will be used to make additional investments toward greening the federal fleet.

Sounds pretty good. Except that the cars the government is replacing won’t be taken off the roads, as was the practice with the infamous “Cash for Clunkers” program. Instead of scrapping the vehicles, the GSA is going to sell them at auction. This makes the claim that the new fleet will “prevent 334 million pounds of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere” an absolute lie.

From the Associated Press:

The sale of the federal castoffs at auction is nothing new; deals for the consumer mean income for the government. But in swapping out old government cars for new models under the economic stimulus package, officials also are claiming environmental benefits that don’t add up.

The General Services Administration used stimulus money to buy 17,246 new vehicles, including more than 3,000 hybrids, for an impressive 40 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the old models, the agency says. It said that translates into a decline of 334 million pounds of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the next seven years, the difference between the emission levels of the old cars and their replacements.

There’s no question the federal fleet is greener. But the environmental claim doesn’t take into account that most of the old wheels still will be on the roads, driven by people who bought them at auction.

So while the government won’t be spewing out as much greenhouse gas, the total amount spewed once the federal fleet is replaced will actually go up.