Cap-and-Trade Revenue Could Help States Close Deficit Gaps

States were seen as potentially pursuing their own cap-and-trade GHG emissions programs as a way to develop new revenue sources to help close large deficits, Bloomberg reported. The 50 states were estimated to have $250 billion of deficits, with recovery from the recession not expected until late in the 2010s.

Illinois EPA head Doug Scott said states belonging to the three regional climate change programs were in talks on the "nuts and bolts" of creating a single market from the three programs. Scott noted: "Most people recognize that the larger the program, the better." California estimated that it could annually receive $4 billion from selling credits. Pew Center on Global Climate Change VP Judi Greenwald added that cap-and-trade at the state level "can be a credible Plan B" alternative to a federal program.