President
Obama has in two short months set the nation in a new direction when it comes
to transitioning to a clean energy economy, stopping global warming and protecting
the environment.
The
president’s proposed federal budget makes clean energy and environmental protection
cornerstones of his Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010) budget, by doing the following:
Includes an estimated $646 billion in
revenues over 10 years from reducing global warming emissions and requiring
polluters to pay for allowances to pollute;
Invests $150 billion from global
warming revenues in clean energy industries such as wind, solar and geothermal
power sources and supports efforts to increase energy efficiency. These
renewable, home-grown energy sources can provide energy now and for generations
to come and will create millions ofgreen jobs;
Includes $17.2 billion in revenues
from the polluter pays fee, which requires private industry to pay for the
clean up of Superfund toxic waste sites;
Invests $3.9 billion to clean up
America’s lakes, rivers and other fresh water sources. $2.4 billion of this is
dedicated to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund – an Environmental Protection
Agency program that disburses money to the states for repairs and improvements
to sewage infrastructure; and
Ends taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil,
resulting in $30 billion of benefits to taxpayers over 10 years.
This report details specific
environmental and economic benefits from these proposals for Colorado, which if
approved lay the groundwork for curbing global warming pollution and protecting
the environment. This report visually displays examples of these benefits with
a comprehensive state map.
Unfortunately,
the proposed budget and subsequent policies to implement these proposals face
major roadblocks from Big Oil and other special interests who are dedicated to
defending the status quo. As this report shows, the environmental and economic
benefits of this budget and the policies it assumes will benefit every state.
