A powerful coal-state Democrat has inserted a 24-page provision into the U.S. Congress’s proposed cap-and-trade bill that would create a $10 billion Carbon Storage Research Corporation, including up to $500 million in “administrative expenses” over the next 10 years. The Web site Solve Climate said the institute would be operated by the coal industry and would research methods of storing carbon dioxide underground; it would be funded with a 50-cent-per-month surcharge on the utility bills of all U.S. households.

Critics contend that the Carbon Storage Research Corporation is a massive pork barrel project, and say it was included in the so-called Waxman-Markey bill to win the vote of U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, an influential Democrat from Virginia. Said one analyst, “This is every industry’s dream — to have the proceeds of a monopoly tax dedicated entirely to your interests.”

This article originally appeared on Yale Environment 360 at http://e360.yale.edu

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