By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – The White House has dropped projected revenues from a “cap-and-trade” mechanism to fight climate change from its new budget, an administration official said, bowing to the possibility that the U.S. Congress may not pass it.
Last year the Obama administration forecast revenues of $646 billion in the years 2012-2019 from an emissions trading program that formed the crux of its proposal to fight global warming.
The legislation that contains that proposal is now stalled in the U.S. Senate and cap-and-trade, which sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allows companies to trade permits to pollute, may be cut from a final bill if one is passed.
“The $646 billion revenue projection is no longer in the budget,” the administration official told Reuters.
“Unlike last year, we do not show an assumed amount of cap-and-trade revenue since the exact nature of the legislation remains in flux,” the official said.
