Most Americans know of the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers program that the Obama administration put into action earlier this year.  The idea was that Americans could trade in their old, polluting cars to get a significant rebate on purchase of an eligible new car that would have far fewer emissions.  The program was so successful that the allotted funds were completely used up within a week of the program beginning its processing of applications.  In response, another $2 billion was added to the original $1 billion to keep the program running, though it still ended more than two months before its original end date.  The final outcome, however, was a 58% increase in overall fuel efficiency, though later studies suggested that overall costs may have substantially outweighed the economic surge created by the program.  In the end, however, it is undeniable that thousands of inefficient cars were traded in, hopefully reducing carbon emissions in the long run.

Few Americans know, however, that Canada too had a similar program, though it went about it in a very different way.  The “Retire Your Ride” program has now taken in more than 50,000 cars in exchange for all sorts of rebates and rewards.  In contrast with the American program which was partly calculated to stimulate the automotive industry, Canada has been offering straight cash, free public transit passes, memberships in car sharing programs, and rebates for bicycle purchases.  This program, while less explosive than the American version, has proved to be more of a long term solution as it has not only been running substantially longer, but offers a variety of different options for rebates, instead of simply purchasing a new car.  Both programs have obviously been highly successfull, though the different approaches each takes is an interesting study on the widespread effects of environmental law and its repercussions.