Volume 1, Number 6 April 12, 1999
------------------------ BIG APPLE GARBAGE SENTINEL ------------------------
<http://pratt.edu/~jmccrory/bags/>
<snip>
STUDY DOCUMENTS SUBSIDIES FOR WASTE
"Welfare for Waste," Recyclers Say, Discourages Recycling
The GrassRoots Recycling Network has published "Welfare for Waste: How
Federal
Taxpayer Subsidies Waste Resources and Discourage Recycling" in order to
demonstrate the entrenched obstacles recycling businesses face in trying to
be
economically viable.
For years, recyclers have complained they are forced to compete on an
unlevel
playing field in which subsidies distort markets so recycled materials --
which should save money in production -- actually cost more than virgin
materials. This report is the first in-depth study of how direct subsidies,
tax codes, and federally-funded infrastructure might give their competitors
an advantage.
The 114-member coalition undertook a yearlong study of federal subsidies
from
the 1872 Mining Law to capital gains that are allowed on timber sales. They
found 15 tax and spending subsidies worth $13 billion over five years.
The United States, their report concludes, "continues to bury or burn most
of
what it calls 'waste,' when the real waste is the resources that should have
been recycled . . . resources that could have prevented more raw materials
from being mined, cut, extracted or squandered."
Copies of the entire report are available for download on the web
<http://www.grrn.org/>, or can be ordered in printed form for $10.00
(including shipping and handling) from the GrassRoots Recycling Network, P.O
Box 49283, Athens, GA 30604-9283.
____________________________________________________________________________
e d i t o r i a l
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recent years, a number of contrarians have claimed that recycling doesn't
make economic sense. In a New York Times Magazine cover story recyclers
found
especially irksome, conservative columnist John Tierney suggested that New
York City could save a lot of money by not recycling. According to Tierney,
recycling is a merely a 'religious belief' that forces taxpayers to spend
more
on waste disposal than they should.
For all their supposed economic sophistication, folks like Tierney seem to
be
working with a model of markets so simplistic that if they used it to make
investment decisions for their retirement, they'd end up in the poorhouse.
The new report by the GrassRoots Recycling Network brings some
sophistication
to how we understand the large influence the federal government has on
materials markets. The direct and indirect subsidies they document give oil,
timber, and mining companies an unfair advantage that devastates our
environment and mortgages our future.
Rather than take the traditional approach of suggesting new subsidies for
recyclers to level the playing field, they call for eliminating a diverse
array of existing subsidies and subtle, but substantive changes in the tax
code.
Environmentalists are often expected to be politically liberal, but by
saying
the federal government should not be in the business of spotting the ball
anywhere but the fifty-yard line, the GrassRoots Recycling Network is taking
the truly conservative position. In this case, it is the wiser one. Weaning
politically powerful industries off the government teat will be a
challenging
and long battle, but it is the right battle to pick.
--John McCrory
----------------------------- THE FINE PRINT -------------------------------
B.A.G.S. is published fortnightly by John McCrory and distributed by email
and fax. If you have news or information on New York City waste management
and recycling issues that you'd like to share, contact John McCrory,
(718) 499-7460 or send an email to <mailto:johnmccrory@mindspring.com>. If
you want to send a fax, please call first; the fax number is the same as the
phone number, so I'll need to turn my fax machine on. Short articles,
commentaries, letters, and corrections are welcome.
Subscriptions to BIG APPLE GARBAGE SENTINEL are free. To SUBSCRIBE, send
email to <mailto:johnmccrory@mindspring.com>. Be sure to include the email
address at which you wish to receive B.A.G.S. If you do not wish to receive
future issues, send us an email and we will delete your address from our
mailing list. B.A.G.S. is available at <http://pratt.edu/~jmccrory/bags/>
on the world wide web. Readers are encouraged to distribute and re-circulate
this newsletter, however, any such copies or excerpts must include
everything below "The Fine Print." Reprints for commercial purposes require
written permission from the publisher.
BIG APPLE GARBAGE SENTINEL
333 Fourth Street, Suite 6I, Brooklyn, New York 11215-7428
------ All contents copyright 1999, John McCrory. All Rights Reserved. -----