speaking strictly as an Earth-hugging hippie...
...this is the stupidest goddamn' idea I've heard today -- although it's only about 6pm here on the East Coast.
Seriously...I'm no expert, but I'd bet it'd be actually cheaper if, instead, they went around to all these folks and handed out free digital converter boxes instead. The Samsung portable analog set in the kitchen at our house is less than five years old; there's no goddamn' way in hell we're going to just throw the friggin' thing out. The wife and I took advantage of the coupons for converter boxes and got a couple -- one for the kitchen set, and a spare for the bedroom set (a 30-inch direct-view flat CRT) for those occasions when the satellite signal craps out.
Jeezus H. on a Segway... recycle my old TV set? Cripes, the damn' thing is mostly plastic, anyway.