Nobody jumps at offer of money to pay for cleaner wood stoves, fireplaces

Bob Elliott has $260,000 burning a hole in his pocket.

The director of the Southwest Clean Air Agency is looking for homeowners willing to take $1,500 to $3,000 to replace old wood stoves and fireplaces with cleaner-burning versions.

Does free money from the government sound too good to be true? Plenty of people apparently think so.

Earlier this month, Elliott mailed hundreds of postcards advertising the giveaway to houses within a half-mile of the agency’s automated gauge in Vancouver’s Ogden neighborhood. The idea is to improve air quality by replacing smoky wood stoves closest to the monitor.

Not a single homeowner responded.

continue....