Operation Legacy kicks off tonight! I hear that President 32% has three "big topics" to discuss in his State of the Union address. The first two are his awesome adventure in Iraq, which we are totally winning, and the economy, which he is totally stimulating. The third is global warming. I don't know what specific lies he's going to tell but just for fun, let's cast our minds back to what Republicans prefer to do when it comes to protecting the world from climate catastrophe. Remember Operation Offset? From the Gristmill, 2005:
No, seriously, we have to "cut unnecessary spending." [to pay for money sent to the Gulf Coast -eR] And the House Republicans are ready, with their "Operation Offset," a list of cuts (PDF) they say could squeeze $500 billion in 10 years out of the federal budget.
Unsurprisingly, the cuts impose pain almost exclusively on programs meant to help the environment and the less fortunate. Here are a few of the cuts:
- Eliminate the EnergyStar program;
- eliminate state and community grants for energy conservation;
- eliminate National Parks Heritage Areas;
- reduce Amtrak subsidies (how come they never call highway spending "subsidies"?);
- eliminate the high-speed rail and light-rail programs;
- reduce fish and wildlife habitat construction;
- reduce Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management;
- eliminate the Applied Research for Renewable Energy Sources program;
- eliminate the FreedomCar program; and
- eliminate the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.
Note that, as Brad Plumer points out, almost every federal program to encourage clean energy is cut, while the energy bill's recent billions in subsidies to oil and gas companies remain untouched.
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