According to a study by the National Research Council of the United States, President Barack Obama's plan to combat climate change might be rendered "useless". The program included billions of dollars' worth of investments towards new renewable energy.

The NRC made a warning that these type of subsidies are ineffective against greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the study of the NRC concluded that for the past several years, subsidies and incentives within the federal tax law have done "little or nothing" to reduce the country's carbon emissions.

"Very little if any GHG reductions are achieved at substantial cost with these provisions," according to the study. The "Their combined impact is less than 1 percent of total U.S. emissions."

The study's reach spanned two years. The NRC conducted the research to examine the correlation between tax provisions by the American government and the effects of such subsidies to the greenhouse gases. Twelve members from the National Academy of Sciences performed the research.