Tracking Green Waste

My last article dealt with the huge sums of money the province of Ontario has wasted in combating climate change. It is frequently said that going green will have little to no economic impact. I'm calling shenanigans on them. So, I'm going to start tracking green waste both here in Canada and abroad to come up with a global measure of just how much governments have spent throwing good money into the AGW wishing well. I've also added a note on what useful things we could have spent the money on; such as feeding the hungry or providing educational supplies for children. You'd be surprised at just how much that money could have actually helped people had it been diverted away from chasing carbon. Total cost will be an approximation benchmarked in US Dollars. I'll update this semi regularly as I come across stories.

Government Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Money Wasted: $273,000,000 USD
Wasted on: Launching a "CO2 Hunter" satellite to map global sources of carbon dioxide. Satellite failed shortly after launch and crashed.
What We Could Have Bought: 1.08 million tons of rice at current $250/tonne international commodity prices. Enough to feed 4.32 billion people assuming 250 gram (1/2 pound) serving.
Source: BBC News

Government Agency: Province of Ontario
Money Wasted: $4,013,000,000 USD ($5 billion CAD)
Wasted On: Green energy plan to build windmills that nobody wants, in a province where it's not windy enough to produce sufficient supplies of electricity.
What We Could Have Bought: 10 million netbook computers, enough for every school child and university student in Canada. One year's worth of university tuition in Ontario for approximately 700,000 people at an average of $6000 per year.
Source: National Post

Government Agency: Province of Alberta
Money Wasted: $1,605,200,000 USD ($2 billion CAD)
Wasted On: Carbon sequestering program for five demonstration projects to bury carbon dioxide underground. Unproven technology that is not commercially viable. Plus I get the feeling that that CO2 can't stay buried forever.
What We Could Have Bought: Clean bottled water for 1.33 billion people assuming average price of $1.50 for 500ml. Enough for all of Africa with plenty to spare.
Source: Edmonton Sun

Government Agency: City of Toronto, Ontario
Money Wasted: $111,444 USD ($140,000 CAD)
Money Wasted On: C-40 Climate Office and "Secretariat" in London, England. Toronto's mayor David Miller is the chair of the climate change organization. Money hidden in budget.
What We Could Have Bought: 50,909 trips on public transit in the city at $2.75 per ticket.
Source: CFRB's Bill Carroll Show 02/27/2009

TOTAL GLOBAL GREEN WASTE TO DATE: $5,891,311,444 USD
Last Updated: February 27th, 2008