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 Obama's budget also calls for the permanent extension of the
Production Tax Credit, used by the wind industry, and the Investment
Tax Credit, used by the solar industry, the officials said.
Obama has made fighting climate change a top priority in his final
two years in office. The White House sees it as critical to his
legacy.
The investment in clean energy technologies would cover programs
primarily at the departments of Energy and Defense, the officials
said.
The $7.4 billion figure is an increase from the $6.9 billion
proposed in Obama's fiscal 2015 budget, a rise of 7.2 percent, and
over the $6.5 billion enacted by Congress for this year.
The administration is finalizing controversial rules that will slash
carbon dioxide emissions from power plants nationwide. The new fund
would give states incentives to hasten that process or go further
than their mandated cuts.
The proposed $4 billion fund would be available to any state that
applies, Janet McCabe, acting assistant Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator in charge of air regulations, told reporters.
"What we will be looking for are states that will get (carbon
emission) reductions earlier... or seek to go further than final
guidelines require," she said.
States would have access to money that could be used to finance
clean energy technologies, funding for low-income communities that
face "disproportionate impacts from environmental pollution" and
create incentives for businesses to back projects that cut down on
emissions, blamed for global warming.
In addition, the budget provides $400 million to help communities
assess flood risks.
It also spells out the costs to the federal government of
climate-related disasters, highlighting a fiscal argument to fight
global warming. The United States has taken on over $300 billion in
direct costs resulting from extreme weather and fire in the past
decade, the budget says.
The EPA's proposals to slash carbon and other air pollution from
power plants and oil and gas facilities are a target of some
lawmakers.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of coal-producing state
Kentucky said Monday he will join the Senate committee that oversees
the EPA's budget.
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"You can guarantee that I will continue to fight back against this
administration’s anti-coal jobs regulations on behalf of the
Kentuckians I represent in the U.S. Senate," he said.
Acting EPA Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg said the agency is
already working with limited resources, including a "historically
low" staffing level.
"This has made us focus on being more efficient... with the staff we
have," he told reporters.
The Department of Energy requested $29.9 billion for fiscal year
2016, an increase of $2.5 billion from the amount enacted for 2015,
of which $10.7 billion would be spent to support scientific
research, development and deployment of new clean energy
technologies and advanced manufacturing.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Monday the department's budget
request highlights new investments in energy infrastructure
technology to make the electric grid more resilient and reduce
methane emissions from natural gas systems.
To support the international component of Obama's climate strategy,
the budget requests $500 million to support the United Nations'
Green Climate Fund, the first tranche of the $3 billion pledged by
the United States in November to help poor countries deal with
climate change.
Some lawmakers have said they plan to block the funding.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Sandra
Maler and Lisa Shumaker)
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