Remember the cash for clunkers law? Maybe it's time to crush the gas guzzlers

The current Mercedes-Benz G550 SUV has an MSRP of $115,400 and gets only 12 mpg in the city. Maybe it's time for the federal government to buy such vehicles and send them to the crusher as part of the effort to slow climate change.

This well-kept G500 was seen at 24 Hour Fitness in Paramus, N.J. The boxy G500 is cramped inside, but three locking differentials are useful for making every sale at Westfield Garden State Plaza, New Jersey's biggest mall, no matter how deep the snow.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The 2009 federal law referred to as the CARS Act gave owners of old vehicles a credit of $3,500 to $4,500 toward the purchase or lease of a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

In just a few short weeks, more than 677,000 new vehicles with an average EPA rating of 24.9 mpg were sold or leased, replacing vehicles with an average rating of 15.8 mpg.

In a 2009 report to Congress on the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, the reduction in fuel consumption over the next 25 years was estimated to be 824 million gallons.

The federal gas-guzzler tax hasn't slowed the horsepower race among the major manufacturers, so maybe it's time for a second CARS Act.

Let's send all those gas guzzlers to the crusher, helping to clean our air and slow climate change.

Maybe this time, higher incentives can be given to owners who trade in their smelly gas guzzlers on a hybrid or electric car. 

This Mercedes-Benz claims to get 31 mpg on the highway, but the company Web site doesn't say whether the 4-cylinder turbo requires premium gas.