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Executive Summary
At a time of record budget
deficits, fiscally wasteful and environmentally harmful spending continues to
be rampant in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, industry and its allies in Congress
and the White House are demanding even more taxpayer dollars for programs that
pollute our air and water, and scar our public lands. As a defender of American
taxpayers and the environment, the Green Scissors Campaign is standing up to
polluting interests and fighting to cut wasteful and environmentally harmful
spending from the federal budget.
“The Green Scissors 2002
report provides a common sense road map that allows us to protect the environment,
cut wasteful spending and maintain the trust of the American people.”
In a letter sent by Representatives
Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Christopher
Shays (R-Conn.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Robert Simmons
(R-Conn.) on the release of the Green Scissors 2002 report, May 24, 2002
Introduction
The Green Scissors Campaign
calls on political leaders to make fiscal and environmental health a national
priority. Instead of bowing to the pressure of corporate interests and jeopardizing
the long-term economic stability of our domestic resource base, Congress and
the administration should commit to eliminating environmentally harmful and
fiscally wasteful programs.
Recommendations offered
in Green Scissors 2003 outline a clear path toward fiscal and environmental
responsibility. It is time for the 108th Congress and the administration to
implement the important spending cuts proposed in this report. Green Scissors
2003 outlines 68 recommendations that would do much to protect our natural
resources, reduce unnecessary government spending by more than $58 billion,
and help guide our nation towards a more sustainable economic and ecological
future.
Federal Surplus or Deficit
Fiscal years 2000 through 2008, In $ billions
Source: The White House Office
of Management and Budget
A Call for Fiscal Responsibility
In the past three
years, Congress and the administration have increased discretionary spending
by almost 25 percent, while reducing federal revenues. Unfortunately, many of
these spending increases have included funding for projects and programs that
please special interests, but needlessly waste taxpayer dollars. During the
same period, our national budget surplus of $5.6 trillion has vanished and our
nation now faces a $1.8 trillion deficit over the next 10 years. 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 human needs.
Instead of rising to the
challenge of fiscal responsibility, Congress continues to spend money without
regard for its long-term effect. As such, we now face a projected federal deficit
of more than $300 billion for each of the fiscal years 2003 and 2004, with continued
deficits totaling $1.8 billion into the next decade. Given these downward trends,
and with cost estimates of the war in Iraq in excess of $80 billion, federal
lawmakers should embrace every opportunity to cut unnecessary and harmful spending.
A Call for Environmental
Responsibility
While the government’s
economic policies will leave its fiscal ledgers in the red for another 10 years,
its environmental policies are proving no less damaging. Indeed, it is as if
the administration and Congress are colluding to undermine environmental protections—one
tearing down long enshrined environmental laws, and the other dipping into the
public purse to dole out massive handouts to polluting industries.
The environmental impacts
of these devastating policies are just as stark as the economic ones. More than
131 million Americans live in areas where smog pollution makes their air unsafe
to breathe, and every year over 45,000 lives are cut short by air pollution.
Thirty years after the Clean Water Act was enacted, more than 40 percent of
our rivers, lakes, and estuaries remain unsafe for swimming and fishing. The
National Academy of Sciences estimates that every year 60,000 children may be
born at a significantly increased risk of neurological defects primarily due
to mothers eating mercury-contaminated fish. Logging, mining, road building,
and other development activities have destroyed more than half of our national
forests. Scientists throughout the world agree that global climate change looms
as a devastating threat to the future of the planet.
Despite these distressing
trends, Congress continues to fund industries and programs that put undue pressure
on our health, our environment, and our economy. 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 report details the
appropriate steps that can place us on an alternate path.
The Campaign
Led by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group, the Green Scissors Campaign works with Congress and
the administration to end wasteful and environmentally harmful spending. With
strong bipartisan support, the campaign has succeeded in cutting funding for
wasteful federal programs by more than $26 billion.
Green Scissors 2003
Methodology
Members of the Green Scissors Campaign selected the programs in this report
in consultation with a variety of experts and advocates from the field. The
campaign evaluated programs based on a combination of factors including: cost
to taxpayers, negative environmental consequences, and current political status.
Many of the programs highlighted in this report involve complex issues, and
are part of a broader debate. The recommendations offered here were developed
in consensus with Green Scissors coalition members.
The published Green Scissors
2003 report is structured to give a brief analysis of each program, and
is grouped by category—-agriculture, energy, international and military, public
lands, roads and highways, and water. Full-page articles that offer a more in-depth
analysis of Green Scissors recommendations can be found online at www.greenscissors.org.
The organizations and coalitions championing these reforms are excellent sources
of additional information on these issues. To learn more about a given project,
please consult the contact persons listed for each issue.
Additionally, while we are
pleased with the diversity of issues covered in Green Scissors 2003,
we would like to acknowledge that this report is not a definitive list of environmentally
harmful and fiscally wasteful federal programs.
How Savings Are Estimated
Unless otherwise indicated, the figures in Green Scissors 2003 represent
a project’s total cost to federal taxpayers over the life of the project. Where
this information is not available, the savings are estimated based on the five-year
program cost (i.e. multiplying the current year cost by five). Where appropriate,
a distinct and suitable time period is used in place of a five-year estimate.
Because of the many variables involved in arriving at a precise dollar value
for each of these programs, savings figures are generally intended to be illustrative
rather than definitive. These are conservative estimates, and program phase-in
periods are usually not accounted for unless Congressional Budget Office estimates
are used.
“$N/A” is used for recommendations
for which no reliable savings estimate is available, or when funding mechanisms
are complex and indirect, and thus difficult to discern.
New to Green Scissors
2003
Green Scissors 2003 reflects our most recent research and responds to current
events and initiatives, adding four new programs to the list this year. New
issues profiled are:
• Factory Farm Subsidies
• FreedomCAR Initiative
• Stewardship Contracting
for Forests
• Tennessee Valley Authority’s
Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant
Choice Cuts
Among the 68 programs and subsidies described in Green Scissors 2003,
the Green Scissors Campaign selected seven priorities or “choice cuts” for immediate
reform or elimination. These programs include:
• Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
• Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint
River Navigation Systems
• Bonneville Power Administration
• Indianapolis-to-Evansville
(I-69) Highway (Indiana)
• Oil Royalty Exemptions
• Superfund Reauthorization
• Timber Roads Construction
Victories
Working together, taxpayers and environmentalists have proven that they can
beat special interests and pork barrel politics-as-usual. During the 107th Congress,
the Green Scissors Campaign won two massive victories that saved taxpayers billions
of dollars, prevented degradation of our national waterways, and stymied a multi-billion
dollar government giveaway to nuclear and fossil fuel industries.
Defeat of the House and
Senate Energy Legislation
During the 107th Congress, energy issues dominated the nexus between environmental
and taxpayer issues. The Green Scissors Campaign scored a major victory by helping
to kill energy legislation proposed by the administration and voted on in Congress.
The energy bill passed by the House of Representatives (H.R. 4) would have handed
out more than $28 billion to the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries. The
Senate energy bill would have given away more than $10 billion to the same industries.
The House of Representatives and the Senate were unable to agree on the final
energy legislation before the end of the Congress. Although this was an important
victory, Congress continues the energy debate. In April 2003, the House of Representatives
passed HR. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2003, and the Senate is beginning debate
on similar legislation. Both the House and Senate bills threaten to give billions
of dollars to the oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power industries.
Defeat of the Army Corps
of Engineers Authorizing Bill
In 2002, the House of Representatives attempted to pass the Water Resources
Development Act (WRDA) to authorize Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) projects.
However, the proposed legislation ignored a host of reform proposals that had
previously been brought to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s
attention in both legislation and testimony. Instead, the bill would have greatly
expanded unnecessary subsidies by authorizing nearly $4 billion worth of new
water projects. At the same time, the legislation did nothing to correct serious
problems with the Corps’ planning process, which include a lack of accountability
and oversight resulting in unjustifiable projects that waste taxpayers’ dollars
and damage the environment. The Green Scissors Campaign and other Corps reform
advocates were able to stall this biennial legislation in 2002 because congressional
committees failed to include real reform for the embattled agency. Although
a victory, WRDA and Corps reform are likely to be key issues in the 108th Congress.
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