With our country’s national debt on the rise, now more than ever, taxpayer dollars should be spent wisely. Any time there is an opportunity for a win-win – i.e. eliminating government waste while also achieving other goals, such as improving public goods – Congress should pay special attention. Various federal programs, some of which have been on the books for decades, not only waste taxpayer dollars but they also increase climate costs and long-term environmental liabilities.  

Taxpayers can save billions of dollars each year if spending on such programs is eliminated.  

Cutting wasteful and environmentally harmful spending has been the focus of the Green Scissors Campaign since 1994. Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), Friends of the Earth (FOE), R Street Institute, U.S. PIRG, and Environment America recently identified nearly 60 federal programs that fall into this category. The Green Scissors database includes everything from bioenergy subsidies to oil and gas tax breaks, plus other wasteful federal programs like flood insurance and certain farm subsidies.   

With FY23 appropriations on Congress’s current to-do list, plus a farm bill reauthorization next year, the updated Green Scissors database identifies significant opportunities for common sense taxpayer savings. Federal costs of select programs are provided for one-year (Fiscal Year (FY) 2022) in addition to ten-year cost estimates for FY22-31.  

Questions? Please email media@taxpayer.net.