Trump's Promise to Pay for Infrastructure With Fossil Revenue Is Iffy

"The president and his industry allies argue that a drilling boom will raise billions, but raising money through higher royalties and taxes is not a simple equation."

"Among the fuzzy pledges President Trump has made in his energy plans, his idea to pay for a $1 trillion public infrastructure program with a bonanza of fossil fuel mining and drilling revenue stands out as particularly far-fetched.

It's a promise that is central to his economic agenda, intended to attract support for a fossil-fuel spree among those who favor investments in modernizing roads, bridges, bike paths and the electric grid.

Drilling revenue is reaped primarily by the fossil fuel companies, and siphoning it into public works projects would require a series of implausible events."

Marianne Lavelle reports for InsideClimate News January 30, 2017.