There is nothing “clean” about killing America’s car culture. The war on gas-powered cars is heating up again — and it’s being waged through programs that sound helpful on paper but are destructive in practice.
Remember Cash for Clunkers? The 2009 government boondoggle that scrapped nearly 700,000 perfectly good cars in the name of “stimulating the economy” and “cleaning the air”? It ended up wrecking the used car market, punishing low-income drivers, and enriching automakers who were already bailed out by taxpayers.
Now, a new version is back, with a greenwashed name and a deeper agenda.
It’s called Clean Cars for All, and it’s not just a California thing — it’s a nationwide effort to eliminate affordable gas-powered vehicles, punish traditional car ownership, and force Americans into EVs they may not want, can’t afford, and often can't charge.
We thought this nightmare was over with the removal of the electric vehicle mandate, defunded the EV incentive and lowering gas prices.
On June 12, 2025, Governor Gavin Newson of California signed an executive order doubling down on state’s commitment to clean cars and trucks. The order updates the state vehicle purchasing requirements, and directing the state to craft new actions to accelerate affordable clean vehicle adoption.
How the New ‘Clunker’ Scheme Works
California’s Clean Cars for All is offering up to $12,000 to Bay Area residents who retire a 2007, or older, gasoline powered vehicle and switch to an electric car, public transit, or even an e-bike. Similar programs in other states go by different names: “Vehicle Replacement Program,” “Drive Clean Rebate,” or “Mobility Options.”
The fine print is the same: once you accept the incentive, your vehicle must be destroyed. You can’t sell it; you can’t donate it; and you can’t pass it down to a friend or family member. The car is dismantled, regardless of condition, value, or collectability. This is marketed as a “green” move — but in reality, it’s an attack on working Americans and a thinly veiled push to reshape the car market through forced policy.
This Is Bad Policy Disguised as Progress
Programs like Clean Cars for All are promoted as helping low-income drivers. But let’s be honest: these policies hurt the very people they claim to help. Here's how:
- They destroy affordable used cars, reducing options for budget-conscious buyers.
- They drive up prices by shrinking the used market and creating artificial EV demand.
- They punish rural and suburban drivers, where charging infrastructure is weak or non-existent.
- They scrap vehicles that could be used for parts, harming mechanics and independent shops.
And these grants don’t even cover the cost difference between and ICE car and an EV. In many cases, drivers will still owe tens of thousands of dollars for vehicles that may not meet their needs — especially in states with extremely hot or cold weather, where EV range plummets. All while public charging remains unreliable. Plus the increased insurance costs will make it unaffordable. This isn’t help. This is coercion.
California Is Now Targeting Car Culture Itself
California has always been the beating heart of American car culture — from hot rods and lowriders, to drag racing, performance cars, and vintage restoration. The state is home to many aftermarket custom and performance shops that helped shape the industry. But under Governor Gavin Newsom, that culture is under siege.
Newsom and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are:
- Banning the sale of new gas-powered cars after 2035
- Increasing emissions regulations on classic and modified vehicles
- Targeting performance parts and aftermarket modifications
- Discouraging registration of older, collectible vehicles
- Using scrapping programs to eliminate enthusiast cars
What they can’t ban outright, they’ll regulate into extinction. And it’s not just classic Mustangs or muscle cars on the chopping block. Thousands of perfectly reliable sedans, trucks, and SUVs — many with years of life left — will be scrapped under programs like Clean Cars for All. These cars could serve young drivers, working families, small businesses, or rural residents. Instead, they’re sent to the crusher in the name of “climate justice.”
Meanwhile, Americans Get Fewer Choices — and Pay More
Unlike Europe or South America, the U.S. does not import Chinese electric vehicles — at least not yet. But while our policies make it harder for Americans to buy the vehicles they want, China is growing stronger on the global EV stage because of aggressive government subsidies and export strategies.
In fact, China is flooding the global market with low-cost EVs. Europe is already imposing tariffs to protect its domestic industry from the aggressive competition. Brazil and Mexico are also responding. The U.S. has wisely taken steps to prevent a similar flood here.
While Americans lose access to affordable used vehicles, some politicians are forcing a transition that benefits foreign battery manufacturers, undermines our domestic parts industry, and hands future transportation policy to global supply chains dominated by adversarial nations. President Trump is turning that around but it doesn’t happen overnight. We will see the benefit of parts being produced in the USA in the very near future.
This Is About More Than Just Cars
What we’re witnessing isn’t environmentalism — it’s systematic behavior engineering. The goal is to eliminate private car ownership and replace it with a top-down transportation system where your choices are limited, monitored, and taxed.
Today, they want to take your 2007 Corolla. Tomorrow, it’s your 2022 pickup. Don’t think they’ll stop with gas engines. The very idea of owning your own vehicle — choosing how, when, and where you drive — is being reframed as selfish or outdated.
This has serious implications:
- Fewer Americans will be able to afford vehicle ownership.
- Repair shops and small businesses will be wiped out.
- The collector car and classic restoration industries will collapse.
- Freedom of movement — especially in rural America — will be restricted.
The Path Forward: Let the Market Decide
Here’s a radical idea: Let people choose the vehicle that best fits their needs, budget, and lifestyle.
If EVs are truly superior, people will adopt them naturally. They don’t need to be forced through mandates, subsidies, and coercive scrapping programs. The free market should determine what technologies win — not state bureaucrats and globalist agendas.
To preserve automotive freedom and consumer choice, we must protect internal combustion engines alongside ongoing innovation in alternative fuels and electric vehicles. Access to parts and older vehicles should remain a priority, ensuring that drivers aren’t forced to abandon reliable, serviceable cars due to government overreach.
It’s equally important to defend the right to repair and modify your own vehicles, a cornerstone of American car culture and mechanical independence. California is going after your ability to do that too. And what California does, many other states will follow suit.
We must also push back against forced obsolescence and programs that mandate the scrapping of functioning vehicles under the guise of environmental policy. Real environmental progress should be rooted in practical solutions-not political greenwashing or top-down mandates that eliminate freedom in the name of climate agendas.
One bright spot in the fight to protect car culture is Leno’s Law, a California measure co-sponsored by comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno. Officially known as SB 301, the law is designed to safeguard low-volume and specialty vehicle manufacturers, including hot rod builders and classic car restoration shops.
It allows for a limited number of specially constructed vehicles-like custom street rods and kit cars-to be legally registered and operated in California without being subjected to the state’s increasingly restrictive emissions rules.
Once passed, Leno’s Law represents a small but important win for car enthusiasts, preservationists, and the aftermarket industry. It proves that with the right voices and enough pressure, car culture can still be defended — even in a state trying hard to regulate it out of existence.
Final Gear: Fight for Your Freedom to Drive
Programs like Clean Cars for All are not about cleaning the air — they’re about cleaning the market of anything that doesn’t fit into a government-mandated future.
Car culture, mechanical knowledge, and the simple joy of owning and driving a vehicle — these are uniquely American traditions. They are not relics. They are rights.
It’s time to stand up and say we had had enough. Our cars are more than machines. They’re symbols of freedom, independence, and identity. And we’re not going to give them up.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/tgQsLqZBBIs
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Lauren Fix is an automotive expert and journalist covering industry trends, policy changes, and their impact on drivers nationwide. Follow her on X @LaurenFix for the latest car news and insights. Paul Fix III co-wrote this article. Follow Paul Fix @paulfix3.
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