that although recycling aluminum makes economic sense, "recycling for the most part consumes more energy than it saves." Global warming In an October 2007 interview, Paul held that climate change is not a "major problem threatening civilization", stating "I think war and financial crises and big governments marching into our homes and elimination of habeas corpus – those are immediate threats. We're about to lose our whole country and whole republic!" He declined to name any particular environmental heroes and affirmed no special environmental achievements other than his educating the people about free-market solutions rather than "government expenditures and special-interest politics". In 2009, Ron Paul asserted "that the greatest hoax I think that has been around in many, many years if not hundreds of years has been this hoax on the environment and global warming." Environmental-related legislative activities During the 2008 presidential campaign Paul said that he had been active in the Green Scissors campaign. However, when asked by a different interviewer a few months later to discuss his Green Scissors involvement, Paul did not know what the interviewer was talking about. Paul says that he opposes and votes against subsidies for oil and gas companies. However, unlike many others in government, industry, and the newsmedia, Paul does not include tax credits or tax deductions in his definition of subsidies. He uses the term "subsidy" only in the very narrow sense of a direct grant of money from the government to a company. Paul voted on multiple occasions in 2007—2012 to block measures that would have eliminated or reduced tax breaks for oil and gas producers. For example, in January 2007, he voted against the Energy Independence and Security Act, which supporters said would have rescinded $14 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas drillers. In February 2008, he voted against the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act, which supporters said would have eliminated $18 billion in tax benefits for oil companies and substituted tax credits for wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. In May 2008, he voted against the Energy Improvement and Extension Act, which supporters said contained provisions to cut tax breaks for oil companies and to expand tax breaks for alternative energies like solar and geothermal power, biodiesel fuels, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. In July 2010, he voted against the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009, which would have removed federal