Will polluters pay for California's high-speed rail?

In a recent interview, California Governor Jerry Brown said that the state's high-speed rail project will cost much less than the $100 billion estimate and that he has an idea for a fitting new funding source.

David Siders of the Sacramento Bee reports that Gov. Brown is trying to sway a skeptical state legislature to support the project by recommending that part of the project's funding come from the state's cap-and-trade program.

"Phase 1, I'm trying to redesign it in a way that in and of itself will be justified by the state investment," Brown said. "We do have other sources of money: For example, cap-and-trade, which is this measure where you make people who produce greenhouse gasses pay certain fees - that will be a source of funding going forward for the high speed rail."

Brown said, "It's going to be a lot cheaper than people are saying."

Image: California High-Speed Rail Authority

Jerry Brown says cap-and-trade fees will fund high-speed rail [Sacramento Bee]

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com