See also: Running On Empty -- How Environmentally Harmful Energy Subsidies Siphon Billions from Taxpayers -- A Green Scissors Report 2002 Friends of the Earth Taxpayers for Common Sense U.S. Public Interest Research Group http://www.greenscissors.org/publications/runningonempty.pdf 516kb
Green Scissors 2003 Read the Report http://www.greenscissors.org/publications/gs2003.pdf 740kb http://ens-news.com/ens/may2003/2003-05-08-11.asp Green Scissors Shows Congress $58 Billion In Cuts By J.R. Pegg WASHINGTON, DC, May 8, 2003 (ENS) - American taxpayers are spending $58 billion to fund wasteful and environmentally damaging federal programs, charges a new report released today by a coalition of environmental, taxpayer and consumer groups. The Green Scissors 2003 Report says eliminating these 68 federally funded programs could put the nation on a path toward fiscal and environmental responsibility, but warns that Congress and the Bush administration are taking the nation down a different road. "Congress continues to fund industries and programs that put undue on our health, our environment and our economy," according to the report. "At a time in history when security is on the minds of all Americans, our leaders appear to be actively working to cultivate financial and environmental insecurity." This is the eighth year Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) have released its lists of wasteful and environmentally harmful programs. Over the last eight years, $26 billion in spending programs targeted by the Green Scissors Campaign have been cut or eliminated from the federal budget. Congress and the administration, according to the report, have turned the nation's $5.6 trillion surplus into a projected deficit of $1.8 trillion over the next decade. The report says it is time to cease subsidizing timber sales and the extraction of the nation's natural resources. (Photo courtesy Defend the Forests) "This massive and continuing draw on the federal treasury undermines our economic security and threatens the stability of essential government programs that many Americans rely on for their basic needs," the report says. It slams much of the nation's existing energy policy, in particular the Energy Department's fossil fuel research and development programs, which it says could cost taxpayers $1.7 billion over the next five years. Subsidies to the coal, oil and gas industries should be cut, the report finds, because of the environmental damage these industries cause. "These subsidies are going to some of the nation's wealthiest and dirtiest companies, leaving a trail of pollution in their wake," according to the report. The government should reject proposals to restart the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Browns Ferry nuclear power plant, according to the report, a move that would save at least $2.1 billion. It recommends the elimination of the Energy Department's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, a nuclear fuel reprocessing program that will cost taxpayers $315 million over the next five years. "With the country facing the worst deficits in history, politicians need to dam the river of red ink," said Aileen Roder, program director at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "By blocking the tracks of the special interest gravy train, we can get our fiscal ship in shape and preserve the environment at the same time." The energy bills under discussion in the House and Senate do little to curb many of these harmful program, the coalition says. "The Senate energy bill is based on 19th century energy policy that will cost taxpayers at least twenty billion 21st century dollars and will harm public health well into the next century," said U.S. PIRG environmental advocate Navin Nayak. The report criticizes Congress for not reauthorizing the Superfund tax on polluters. Polluters benefit from tax breaks, the report finds, and the expiration of this tax has come as cleanup has dropped dramatically. Reinstating the tax would earn $5.8 billion for current and future Superfund cleanups. Green Scissors suggests cutting the U.S. Forest Service's timber roads construction program, which would save $170 million over five years. The Forest Service has built more than 380,000 miles of roads in national forests to subsidize the timber industry. These roads have had negative impacts on water quality and wildlife habitat, and has left the federal government with a $10 billion backlog in needed road maintenance. "Logging, mining, road building, and other developmental activities have destroyed more than half of our national forest," says the report. The $191 million Yazoo Pumps project is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to "replumb" the Mississippi River. (Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Congress should cease assistance to large factory farm operations through an Agriculture Department program that provides assistance to farmers and ranchers seeking to improve the environmental quality of their operations, according to the report. A change in last year's Farm Bill lifted the cap on who could access a pool of $11.6 billion over 10 years, allowing the nation's largest livestock operations to receive up to $450,000 over six years. Curbing irrigation subsidies to agricultural industries could save up to $1.1 billion a year, according to Green Scissors. Other ill advised water policies - such as dredging and flood control - waste some $9 billion. The $1.2 billion Freedom CAR initiative is a waste of money, the report finds, because it lacks any meaningful benchmarks to ensure action. Terminating it could save $634 million over the next five years, says the report. "Now is a critical time for federal and state budgets," said Erich Pica, senior policy analyst at Friends of the Earth. "It is inconceivable that members of Congress and the administration are actually proposing more handouts to industries that drill and mine our public lands, pollute our air and contaminate our waters." The full report is available at www.greenscissors.org http://www.greenscissors.org/news/gs2003pr.html Green Scissors May 8, 2003 Read the Report Contact: Erich Pica, FoE (202)-783-7400 x229 Keith Ashdown, TCS (202) 546-8500 x110 Navin Nayak or Jennifer Mueller, U.S. PIRG, 202-546-9707 Taxpayer and Environmental Coalition Targets $58 Billion In Wasteful, Environmentally Harmful Programs [Washington, DC] -Sixty-eight federally funded programs that waste $58 billion and damage the environment should be eliminated from the federal budget, according to a report released today by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). "Now is a critical time for federal and state budgets," said Erich Pica, senior policy analyst at Friends of the Earth. "It is inconceivable that members of Congress and the administration are actually proposing more handouts to industries that drill and mine our public lands, pollute our air and contaminate our waters." The Green Scissors 2003 report highlights programs and projects that taxpayer, environmental and consumer organizations agree should be cut to stop wasteful spending that harms the environment. Over the last eight years, $26 billion in environmentally harmful spending programs targeted by the Green Scissors Campaign have been cut or eliminated from the federal budget. The Green Scissors Campaign calls on Congress to protect the environment and taxpayers as it begins debating the federal budget in the coming weeks. "With the country facing the worst deficits in history, politicians need to dam the river of red ink," said Aileen Roder, program director at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "By blocking the tracks of the special interest gravy train, we can get our fiscal ship in shape and preserve the environment at the same time." Among the polluting subsidies in the federal budget targeted by Green Scissors 2003 are: * The failure of Congress to reauthorize the Superfund tax on polluters. One in four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund site, but since the Superfund's tax on potential polluters was allowed to expire, the pace of cleanups has dropped off dramatically, while polluting industries enjoy a $4 million-a-day tax break. * A federal proposal to exempt oil and gas companies from paying royalties to extract public resources. Under Congress' new proposal, the wealthiest and dirtiest companies would be able to drill on public lands for free. States currently receive 50 percent of the fee that corporations pay for extracting oil and gas from federal lands. These royalties have generated more than $3.7 billion for states in the last five years alone and have been an important source of revenue for ailing state budgets. * The Department of Energy's Fossil Fuel Research and Development programs. These programs are projected to cost taxpayers $1.7 billion over the next five years. As the major source of smog, soot and global warming pollution, the fossil fuel industry is a lethal threat to public health and the environment. The report calls for all subsidies to the coal, oil and gas industries to be cut, thereby protecting taxpayers and public health. * The Forest Service's wasteful and destructive timber roads construction program. More than 380,000 miles of roads have been built in national forests to subsidize the timber industry. These roads harm water quality, fragment wildlife habitat, disrupt wildlife-migration routes, and destroy scenic beauty. The Forest Service has constructed so many roads that it now faces a $10 billion backlog in needed road maintenance. The Green Scissors Campaign calls for all funding for construction, planning, and design of new timber roads to be cut, saving taxpayers $170 million over five years. The report also calls on the Bush administration to enforce the Roadless Area Conservation Rule to protect 58.5 million acres of national forests. The report includes several controversial programs included in the energy bill currently before the Senate. "The Senate energy bill is based on 19th century energy policy that will cost taxpayers at least twenty billion 21st century dollars and will harm public health well into the next century," said U.S. PIRG Environmental Advocate Navin Nayak. "Senators should protect taxpayers and the environment by opposing this dangerous and expensive energy bill, and by opposing all environmentally harmful taxpayer handouts," he concluded. # # # U.S. PIRG is the national advocacy office for the state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations. Taxpayers for Common Sense is a national, non-partisan budget watchdog organization. Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of an influential, international network of grassroots groups in 70 countries. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs from home. Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping & No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/BVVfoB/hP.FAA/uetFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
