The federal government is a massive, labyrinthian thing; it's probable that no one person understands all of it or has a good handle on everything it does - or how many ratholes it pours taxpayer money - our money - into. That's why Elon Musk proposed and President Trump implemented the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to get a grip on the federal leviathan, grab it by the throat, and force it to cough up some - hopefully most - of the egregiously wasteful spending.

Since the DOGE started kicking some and taking some, though, it seems scarcely a day goes by without some other massive government program coming to light, spending our money on questionable causes. Case in point: The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). According to the USGCRP's website, their purpose is:

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was established by Congress in 1990 to coordinate federal research and investments in understanding and responding to the forces shaping the global environment, both human and natural, and their impacts on society. 

USGCRP facilitates collaboration and cooperation across 15 federal member agencies to advance a whole-of-government response to global environmental change. Research and services coordinated by USGCRP inform the nation in navigating the challenges of a changing environment and identifying opportunities for a more resilient future.

Together, USGCRP and its member agencies provide the nation with authoritative science, tools, and resources to help people and organizations across the country manage risks and respond to changing environmental conditions.

Their 2025 budget is $1,873,000,000. All to "facilitate collaboration and cooperation across 15 federal member agencies." We need to spend almost $2 billion for that?

President Trump has vowed to undo the Biden administration's frantic spending on the bugaboo of climate change. This would be a good place to start. This is the group that produces the "National Climate Assessment," and here's the thing: The handful of actual, breathing humans working at the USGCRP aren't the ones that produce this report; that is reportedly done by ICF, a huge international "environment consulting group." ICF promises its clients to "expertly manage environmental challenges":

Streamline compliance with environmental consulting services powered by our 1,000+ environmental planners, scientists, engineers, attorneys, and policy specialists.

They're doing very well at it, too. 

There are reports that funding from our federal government to ICF runs as high as $7.4 billion. There certainly are a pile of grants going IDF's way:

EPA Awards ICF $75 Million Environmental Support BPA

EPA Selects ICF for $33 Million in New Environmental Assessment Contracts

EPA Selects ICF for $31 Million Health Risk Assessment Contract

U.S. Air Force Selects ICF for $25 Million Environmental Services Contract

EPA Selects ICF for $5.7 Billion Environmental and Climate Support BPA

Note that most of those are taken directly from ICF's website. They are bragging about this.

This kind of thing seems tailor-made for a conflict of interest. But in the previous, ultra-woke administration, there was plenty of opportunity for that sort of thing.

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ICF's website contains all the required woke language: "environmental justice," demonstrating once again that the left can make anything into a frantic social issue by taking a random word and sticking "justice" on the end. There's also "health impact and equity considerations," whatever that means.

So, in summary, we have a shadowy government bureaucracy, with a nearly $2 billion budget, tasked with "coordinate(ing) federal research and investments in understanding and responding to the forces shaping the global environment." One of their key activities is producing the National Climate Assessment, which is mostly outsourced to a massive, global, environmental services consulting agency that then received millions, nay, billions of taxpayer dollars to provide such things as "environmental and climate support."

Manus manum lavat. "One hand washes the other."

If this isn't graft, then I don't recognize the beast. The DOGE has a big job here, unpacking all this and dragging it into the light of day, but this has to be done. This isn't just about one hand washing the other or even about both hands washing the face. It's about a massive misuse of taxpayer dollars dumped into a global consulting firm with a fundamental conflict of interest and the casual acceptance of this as an acceptable cost in dealing with the left's ballyhooed climate crisis.

Mr. President, please sic the DOGE on this. They would seem to have their work cut out for them.

The climate extremists waste billions of taxpayers in ill-advised studies and questionable projects. 

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