New Study Says Climate Change Programs Cost Billions For Paltry Results

The Vancouver-based group examined climate change initiatives in Canada and around the world, all of which wastes billions of taxpayer dollars.

“Across the country, ineffective climate policies will cost taxpayers billions with little to show for it,” said Fraser Institiute energy and natural resources expert Kenneth Green in a news release Thursday.

Jason Kenney, the new leader of the United Conservative Party in Alberta, was quick to seize on the report, tweeting on Friday: “New study says the NDP carbon tax will cost the average family $3600 over the next 3 years. It is ‘going to cost a great deal of money, but, most likely, will yield very little return in terms of environmental benefits.’”

The Fraser Institute awarded the Alberta “climate action plan” with the title of the “most expensive in Canada,” with projected costs of $5.4 billion over the next three years. Alberta, the energy capital of Canada with potentially more oil buried in its oil sands than exists in Saudi Arabia, currently has a quasi-socialist provincial government that promotes climate change and green energy projects.

But the Fraser Institiute says that for all the expense of fighting the climate change war, the desired results will be neglible and “will likely yield much fewer environmental benefits than projected.”

The study looked at green energy programs and carbon taxes in Germany, the U.K. and the state of California, and found two things in common: huge costs and low environmental results.

The institute blasted the way that carbon taxes have been implemented, specifically when governments insist levies are “revenue neutral.” It also cites the recurring habit of green energy advocates to ignore the massive subsidies required for the production of “clean energy” substitutes like wind and solar power.