The coronavirus crisis is wreaking havoc on the US economy, pushing companies large and small to seek help from the federal government. As elected officials debate how to provide this aid, they would do well to remember the 2009 bailout of General Motors and Chrysler as a model of what not to do. The auto bailout was terrible for both workers and the environment.

To be sure, the rapid and frightening spread of COVID-19 is a very different type of crisis from the 2008 global financial meltdown. While both crises triggered surging unemployment and losses across multiple sectors, the current crisis has enveloped the entire country in a matter of weeks necessitating a rapid and meaningful response from the federal government.

Nonetheless, it is worth revisiting the government’s management of the 2008–9 auto crisis, which is widely viewed as a successful intervention. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the resolution of the auto crisis should not be a template for corporate bailouts. It had dire long-term implications for both working people and the environment.