WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New White House Chief Performance Officer Called on to Reform Wasteful, Ineffective and Environmentally Harmful Public Lands and

WildEarth Says Taxpayers Could Save Billions While Protecting Key Habitats
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

SANTA FE, N.M. - In President Barack Obama’s first week in office, WildEarth Guardians has requested his new Chief Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer, to investigate a host of fiscally reckless and environmentally destructive federal programs that are long overdue for elimination or reform. The Chief Performance Officer is a newly created position charged with improving efficiency and eliminating waste in the federal government. President Obama appointed Nancy Killefer to the office on January 8.

“For too long, the federal government has authorized programs that waste money, are ineffective in solving problems and cause major environmental damage,” said John Horning, Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians. “We believe that the current financial crisis provides an urgency and opportunity to reform government programs that simply aren’t working.”

In its letter, WildEarth Guardians identified federal programs such as public lands mining, oil and gas development, public lands livestock grazing, wildlife trapping and killing, and federal timber sales that annually cost taxpayers billions of dollars, even while they destroy public lands, harm wildlife, despoil water and pollute the air and climate.

Among the policies and programs the groups’ letter to Killefer highlights is a federal policy that allows the venting and/or flaring of methane that is worth nearly three quarters of a billion dollars. The vented methane, most of which is owned by the federal government, is a major source of global warming and results in lost royalties from its proper extraction.

“By reforming and eliminating these wasteful policies and programs, we can also help clear the path forward for clean energy,” said Horning. “We need economies and industries that don’t demand massive federal subsidies to ensure their continued existence.”

During his campaign and as President-elect, President Obama repeatedly stressed that his administration will take unprecedented measures to account for how federal funds are spent. Obama recently stated that “we can no longer afford to sustain the old ways when we know there are new and more efficient ways of getting the job done. Even in good times, Washington can’t afford to continue these bad practices.”

The letter also referenced prominent researchers, including renowned biologists Dr. E.O. Wilson and Dr. Norman Myers, who have found that perverse and environmentally destructive subsidies not only threaten ecosystems, air and water, but also hinder our attempts to implement more sustainable forms of production.

Read our letter here.