It's not often that I find myself on the same side as right-wing Republican politicians. But for the past two weeks I've been cheering the neocon nutcases as they tried to prevent the big motor manufacturers from receiving government money for their failed business model. The Democrats, by contrast, thought the handout was an excellent idea.

So did George Bush, who has just driven the senate's decision, and his own party, off the road. Bush maintained that letting GM and Chrysler collapse "would deal an unacceptably painful blow to hardworking Americans", but as if to show he couldn't give a damn about such people, he insisted that the rescued manufacturers cut their workers' wages and benefits. There might have been some justification for bailing out the banks – their collapse would have brought the rest of the global economy down – but there is no excuse for this new round of corporate socialism. The potential failure of GM, Chrysler and Ford, like that of Jaguar Land Rover, is entirely of their own making. Long after it became clear that people wanted smaller, more economical cars, they continued to produce monstrous guzzlers. As SUVs rust in showrooms all over America, it looks as if the only thing which will sustain the "Big Three" over the next year or two is even more government money.

Now that the US package has been approved, European manufacturers will clamour even more loudly for the €40bn they say they deserve for being almost as useless as their competitors across the Atlantic. The British government has already been in talks with Jaguar Land Rover - one of Europe's dirtiest companies – to keep the pollution flowing at state expense. If this bail-out goes ahead, British taxpayers will be paying an Indian company to produce cars for the wealthy, to help them drive the world towards climate breakdown. What a great deal.

Just think what could be done with money like this if it were invested instead in a green energy revolution. Not only would it stimulate lasting manufacturing jobs, it could also fund the emergency measures required to prevent runaway climate change. But on both sides of the Atlantic, governments plead poverty when they are asked to invest in the future, then lavish funding on the past. Never underestimate the lobbying power which lurks behind sunk costs. Let the failed car companies go down. Yes, it will hurt, but not nearly as much as letting them survive.