Reminds me of something P.J. O’Rourke once wrote about the early cans and cardboard recycling mania. You don’t need to set up a government program to recycle used Ferraris. They have intrinsic value and get recycled automatically via the magic of people thinking about their pocketbook.

There’s a guy who runs a small lumber mill in Humboldt County, CA (no, it isn’t a front for something else). Mostly mills replacement mouldings for old Victorians being renovated. He also runs classes for kids, teaching them hands-on skills. He was asked how he could participate in killing trees, and generally accused of crimes against the environment. His response was perfect.

If we cut down trees to build a house that lasts 200 years, that’s not a burden for the environment. 200 years later, we can go back to the forest and ask for more trees to replace the house and the forest can supply them. The problem is when we build crap that only lasts 20 years. If you have to keep going back to the forest for raw materials to replace a building that’s falling apart every 20 years, that’s too much and will exhaust the forest.

I’ve always thought that was one of the best statements of real environmental philosophy, one that’s based on a desire for a healthy environment instead of a desire to tell other people how to live or to engage in moral exhibitionism. Build stuff to last, take care of it, if you get tired of it, don’t throw it away, sell it to someone else who can enjoy it for a while longer.

I don’t think the cash for clunkers measures up very well. I’m not an expert in recovering components from a car that’s been scrapped, but I suspect it’s pretty toxic work. All these scrapped clunkers are either going to be cluttering up landfills, or they’re going to be spewing out real pollution in an effort to avoid bogus CO2 “pollution.”

I think we need a new program to replace “Cash for Clunkers.” Let’s call it “Exit for Idiots.” We’ll give current members of Congress – very wastefull of resources and a significant source of C02 if you ask me – a one-time opportunity to leave and retire to a peacful life of telling nasty jokes about Sarah Palin at cocktail parties. “Act now, Senator! Don’t take the risk this program will be discontinued due to economic necessity! Don’t wait until it’s too late to avoid the tar and feathers!”