WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pushing forward with plans to aggressively limit greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming despite fears that the move could further slow the recessionary economy.
The administration plans to portray the limits as a boost for America's "clean energy economy," according to congressional leaders and energy experts who have talked with top Obama advisors. The move would spur competition and promote investment in renewable alternatives to imported oil, the government will argue.
At issue is the so-called cap-and-trade initiative, under which the government would set limits on carbon emissions by power plants, factories and other installations, but allow those who emit more to buy or trade permits with companies and facilities that emitted less than the prescribed limit.
The idea is that raising the cost of pumping more carbon into the atmosphere would encourage companies and other emitters to cut back, thus reducing a principal cause of global warming.
But cap-and-trade would amount to a tax, raising energy costs. And several independent studies have suggested that emissions limits could be a drag on economic growth, a concern raised frequently by opponents of climate change legislation.
"The whole economic issue will be front and center in the debate on this . . . on both sides," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, who has discussed Obama's global warming plans with senior administration officials.
Polls show voters increasingly losing interest in global warming. By pressing ahead, Obama would be sticking with a program that he said during the campaign would be a high priority of his presidency.
"There's a general consensus that things are going to be done with climate" in Washington this year, said Daniel Yergin, author of "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power."
Details of the administration's approach are far from set, though Obama has said he favors a cap-and-trade system. The administration will argue that greenhouse gas restrictions should be part of a two-pronged effort to stimulate renewable energy supplies and ensure demand for the megawatts they'd produce.
The first is to invest heavily in wind power, solar power and biofuels through the massive stimulus bill. The second is to help those forms of energy compete with cheaper fossil fuels by pumping up fossil fuel costs to reflect the potential economic damage from a warmed Earth.
