Democratic aides say President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will project hundreds of billions of dollars in new federal revenue from a proposed comprehensive cap-and-trade climate law. White House projections indicate that cap-and-trade could raise $646 billion in federal revenue over a decade. Still, prospects remain dim for enacting such legislation this year. The President reiterated his insistence that Congress address global warming in his State of the Union address.
Under the plan, emissions would be capped and polluters would need to hold government-issued allowances to release carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. The allowances could be bought and sold in the marketplace.
But Senator Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee, says any proposal to spend cap-and-trade revenue is probably dead on arrival. The Senator says Congress is not likely to do a cap-and-trade bill this year.
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