Green Scissors 2011 builds on last year’s report by advancing cuts that could potentially save taxpayers $380 billion or more over five years. The report makes the case that the federal government can help protect our natural resources, reduce the growth of government spending, and make a significant dent in the national debt by eliminating harmful spending.

The Green Scissors report finds cuts in energy, agriculture, transportation, and land and water projects. Targets include massive giveaways of publicly-owned resources such as timber, oil and natural gas and minerals, poorly conceived road projects and a bevy of questionable Army Corps of Engineers water projects.

As highlighted in the report, the federal government could end the following programs and save the United States:

• $72,000,000,000 for general revenue transfers to the Highway Trust Fund,
• $30,000,000,000 for crop insurance, and
• $4, 820,000,000 for Oil and Gas Royalty relief.

Friends of the Earth has been working on identifying and eliminating environmentally harmful spending with the Green Scissors report since 1995, and Taxpayers for Common Sense has been our partner for 15 years. Public Citizen joined the coalition in 2010, and The Heartland Institute joined the coalition for Green Scissors 2011, after endorsing the 2010 report. All four of our groups have different missions and different views about the role of government, but Green Scissors represents some key areas where we all can agree.

Green_Scissors_2011 (pdf) | coalition press release | telenews conference audio

Download the report here: GreenScissors2010

The Green Scissors Campaign and report offer a few practical solutions to policymakers that will assist in reducing the federal deficit while simultaneously protecting the environment. These are win-win solutions that benefit taxpayers and the environment; the public and politicians; and provide an invaluable opportunity for decisionmakers to navigate the challenging fiscal and environmental decisions that lie ahead.

The Green Scissors 2004 report targets five issues:
• Delaware River Deepening Project
• Market Access Program
• Section 29 Tax Credit for Nonconventional Fuels
• Small Business Tax Credit for Sport Utility Vehicles
• Timber Roads Subsidies

Read Green Scissors 2004.

The Green Scissors 2003 report outlines a clear path toward fiscal and environmental responsibility and calls upon Congress to eliminate environmentally harmful and fiscally wasteful programs. The report includes 68 recommendations that would reduce unnecessary government spending by more than $58 billion and help guide our nation towards a more sustainable economic and ecological future.

Read Green Scissors 2003.

The Running on Empty 2002 report takes aim at cutting wasteful energy subsidies to reduce wasteful spending and restore fiscal discipline to the Washington budget process. This report identifies nearly $62 billion in proposed and existing subsidies that, if eliminated, would protect the environment and protect the budget.

Read Running on Empty 2002.

Green Scissors 2002 offers realistic solutions to the national problems of environmental destruction and wasteful federal spending.This report describes 78 programs that Congress and the administration should cut. Our nation’s leaders could use the $54 billion in savings from these cuts to help alleviate the budget crunch, pay down the national debt, ensure Social Security remains solvent or fund other worthwhile government programs — while providing a much needed respite for our environment.

Read Green Scissors 2002.

Every year, the federal government wastes billions of dollars on programs that pollute our air, contribute to global warming, contaminate our water and scar our public lands. These programs encourage the damming of our free-flowing rivers, the logging of our nation’s remaining forests, and the production of toxic waste, all at the expense of federal taxpayers.

Green Scissors 2001 outlines 74 programs that, if cut, would save taxpayers more than $55 billion and protect our environment. The Green Scissors report is the product of the Green Scissors Campaign, a diverse coalition of environmental, taxpayer, budget watchdog and other groups that have come together to cut environmentally harmful and wasteful spending.

Read Green Scissors 2001.

The Green Scissors Campaign targets a range of subsidies and programs, from nuclear research projects to agricultural promotion. All have one thing in common — they threaten our long-term economic and environmental future. This report is intended to help politicians and policy-makers put aside partisan differences to ensure that American taxpayers are not left holding the bill for cleanups, handouts or bailouts. The future is at stake. Taxpayers and environmentalists believe that Americans should not borrow from future generations, leaving unbearable fiscal or environmental debts.

The Green Scissors 2000 report supplements Green Scissors 1999 and adds five new projects, bringing the combined total of the recommendations to 77, costing taxpayers nearly $50 billion.

Read Green Scissors 2000.

Credible sources estimate that taxpayers contribute anywhere from $4 billion to $30 billion annually to the energy sector. These subsidies include tax breaks to the oil and gas industry, special government programs to assist nuclear power utilities, and research programs that encourage coal consumption. In order to provide for our energy needs while protecting taxpayers and the environment, we must eliminate subsidies for civilian nuclear and fossil energy, giving cleaner sources of energy a chance to compete.

The Paying for Pollution 2000 report calls for the elimination of spending and tax subsidies for dangerous and dirty forms of energy. The recommendations listed do not cover all such subsidies and spending. The recommendations would be a major step toward cleaning up energy production and a significant saving for taxpayers.

Read Paying for Pollution 2000.