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Something that must rank high on the list of outrageous uses of tax dollars is for agencies receiving federal funds to use generous portions to make a case for getting even more government dollars.

And when the information used in the effort to sway public opinion is flawed, the outrage is compounded.

An example is the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies which spent $60,000 in taxpayer funds on a flawed study claiming global warming entitles water companies to have more federal tax dollars.

To provide cover for its attempt to hop on board the global warming gravy train, AMWA contracted with a consulting firm guaranteeing delivery of the agency's pre-determined outcome, said James M. Taylor, environmental policy expert at Heartland Institute.

To prepare its study, AMWA hired Stratus Consulting, whose lack of objectivity is clear from its Web site supporting "a bold framework for climate change action," he added.

Stratus Consulting gave the agency exactly the kind of report it wanted - one supporting the claim AMWA needs more government funding.

The Stratus "study" claimed global warming will cause up to 6.6 degrees Celsius of warming by 2100, despite the fact even the alarmist United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects only about 2.5 degrees of warming, Taylor noted. It also is noted temperatures currently are rising at only half the pace of IPCC projections, and the warming trend has slowed even more recently.

In addition, the Stratus/AMWA study claims global warming will cause more drought, even though scientists have proven global warming has resulted in more precipitation, an increase in soil moisture and less frequent drought.

Yet the publicly funded water companies now are citing the flawed, $60,000 taxpayer-funded study to justify their demands for still more taxpayer dollars.

This kind of abuse creates a strong public impression that tax-supported agencies often are more consumed with padding their budgets than providing quality service.