Super committee can avoid harmful cuts by protecting the environment

A briefing from Friends of the Earth arguing that a congressional super committee can reduce the US deficit without harming the environment by eliminating subsidies for polluting industries and implementing a carbon tax.

• The 'Green Scissors 2011' report, produced by a coalition including Friends of the Earth, The Heartland Institute, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and Public Citizen, identifies up to $380 billion in environmentally harmful spending that could be cut over five years.
• The oil and gas industry receives more than $10 billion in annual taxpayer subsidies, despite the top six oil companies reporting $38 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011. Other industries receiving billions in giveaways include biofuels, nuclear, and coal.
• Implementing a carbon tax could generate significant revenue; a 2009 proposal by Representative Pete Stark could have yielded $80 billion in its first year and $600 billion over a decade.
• Additional revenue-generating options include taxing nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could raise $27 billion over five years, and a microtax on large international currency trades that could raise $5 billion annually.
• Budget cuts resulting from the debt ceiling agreement may jeopardize the ability of the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce environmental laws, and could threaten tax credits for clean energy industries.

APA

Chan, M., & Schreiber, B. (2011). Super committee can avoid harmful cuts by protecting the environment. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/news/2011-09-super-committee-can-avoid-harmful-cuts-by-protecting/

Chicago

Chan, Michelle, and Ben Schreiber. Super committee can avoid harmful cuts by protecting the environment. Friends of the Earth, 2011. https://foe.org/news/2011-09-super-committee-can-avoid-harmful-cuts-by-protecting/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chan |first1=Michelle |last2=Schreiber |first2=Ben |title=Super committee can avoid harmful cuts by protecting the environment |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=8 September 2011 |url=https://foe.org/news/2011-09-super-committee-can-avoid-harmful-cuts-by-protecting/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chan2011super, author = {Chan, Michelle and Schreiber, Ben}, title = {{Super committee can avoid harmful cuts by protecting the environment}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2011}, month = sep, url = {https://foe.org/news/2011-09-super-committee-can-avoid-harmful-cuts-by-protecting/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }