Green Scissors Coalition letter to former Gov. Jeb Bush
The Green Scissors Coalition, made up of environmental, taxpayer and free-market groups dedicated to eliminating wasteful spending that harms the environment, applauds your recent comment that we should cut preferences in the tax code directed at oil and gas.
As members of the Green Scissors Coalition, our organizations have devoted ourselves to pursuing reductions in wasteful and environmentally harmful spending and tax provisions. While we have different visions about the proper scope of the federal government, we’re united in the belief that the next president must get serious about reforming the tax code to tackle special-interest provisions that damage the environment and distort markets.
Our research, available at greenscissors.com, has uncovered dozens of wasteful provisions across a wide range of policy areas that we believe will aid policymakers in the difficult work ahead to reform our environmental policy. The list includes policies targeting fossil fuels, alternative energy, nuclear power, public lands, agriculture, transportation and water projects. In total, they amount to more than $250 billion in potential deficit reduction. With our nation now facing a staggering $18 trillion debt, we believe eliminating these policies will help the federal government to protect our natural resources and make a significant dent in our ongoing budget challenges.
We support your call to reform policies that damage our environment. While it’s a tall task, an easy first step should be targeting the ways in which the federal government encourages environmental harm, a cause to which the Green Scissors coalition has been devoted for more than 20 years.
Kind regards,
The Green Scissors Coalition
Friends of the Earth
Taxpayers for Common Sense
R Street Institute
