In a galaxy far, far away—or rather, in Whitehall—someone’s taken leave of their senses again. In the latest episode of out of this world government spending, £200,000 of taxpayer money is being used to fund research that aims to tackle climate change…through Star Wars. This is not a Sith trick…

UK Innovation and Research, a state-funded body, has handed over the money to Open University for a project titled “Using Star Wars to Improve Sector Sustainability Practices.” The study aims to draw parallels between environmental challenges in the Star Wars universe—such as the destruction of Alderaan—and real-world climate issues. Apparently, we’re supposed to learn something about tackling global warming by reflecting on a fictional planet blown to bits by the Death Star…

Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said:

“Taxpayers will think that likening the Death Star to global warming is totally absurd. Funded research should focus on actual science, not sci-fi fantasies.”

The study will also helpfully dive into the “ecological impact of making props for the Star Wars films.” The force is clearly not strong with whoever thought this was a good use of public money…