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 of green 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 Minnesota, 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.
