Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell and Republican Senator Susan Collins have unveiled another new climate bill that would scrap the “cap and trade” system included in the Kerry-Boxer and House measures. The Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR, instead backs a “cap and dividend” approach in which polluters would have to pay for the right to pollute in addition to purchasing carbon credits. The proceeds would then be handed out as dividends to US taxpayers. While some environmentalists welcomed the bill as an improvement over cap-and-trade, the Union of Concerned Scientists said the bill “is too weak to meet its purported goals.”