Bigger and better than ever, the odd-couple Green Scissors Campaign will release today its new 1997 report that highlights 57 wasteful federal spending and subsidy programs that environmentalists believe harm the environment.

Some of this year’s top targets include:

The Granddaddy of Subsidies: The 1872 Mining Law which allows $2-$3 billion worth of minerals to be extracted from public lands each year without any royalties;

Pork-Barrel Water Project: The Yazoo Backwater Pumping Plant in Mississippi, a $119 million Army Corps project that is exempt from local cost sharing;

Classic Corporate Welfare: The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which risks billions of taxpayer dollars to protect overseas investments by large corporations.

First formed in 1993, this odd-couple coalition of taxpayers, deficit hawks and environmentalists is led by Taxpayers for Common Sense, Friends of the Earth, U.S. PIRG and the Concord Coalition. The report will be released simultaneously today in nearly 50 locations from Florida to California.

The Green Scissors Campaign has gained significant popularity over the last two years. The 1997 report comes on the heels of the newly formed “Stop Corporate Welfare” Coalition which targets 12 wasteful programs for elimination in 1997. Nine of those programs are directly from the Green Scissors 97 report.

Last year’s report inspired a bipartisan group of House members to form the Green Scissors Congressional Coalition, which will continue in 1997. Since 1993, the Green Scissors Campaign has helped stop 11 programs for a savings of over $20 billion.

With more than $36 billion worth of potential savings in 1997, these cuts are the perfect way for Congress to reduce the deficit. The Green Scissors Campaign works to find budget cuts that have broad political and popular support. A 1995 poll by the Americans Talk Issues Foundation found that 93% of Americans believe that “government wastes too much …money.” Other polls find that 66% of Americans feel that environmental protection is “extremely important.”

Corporate Welfare in the News

The “Stop Corporate Welfare” Coalition, which released its target list of 12 programs on January 28, is off to a great start. Newspaper coverage to date includes articles in: The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, and others.