Tuesday the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee begins hearings on the issue. Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer has said she wants the panel to start cobbling together a bill the week of July 27.

I detailed a number of things in my blog last week about the details of the House-passed Cap and Trade bill, like the payments to low income Americans to help offset expected higher energy costs caused by the bill.

That provision and a few other things seem to have made somewhat of an impact, because there was Rush Limbaugh citing me by name on his show last Friday.

(Note to Rush: Thanks for the shout out. But I'm not a blogger. I'm a reporter covering Congress who also happens to blog about the subjects that I cover.)

Since I only have a research staff of one - just me - I would urge you (my readers) to spend a little time looking at the bill to see if you can find something interesting. You might find something that I haven't seen yet.

If you want to download the bill to look for yourself, then here is your link: http://is.gd/1omP8

Right click on it to save the file on your computer. I will warn you, sometimes it takes a long time to load, and seems like it doesn't work at all.

Here is the full link: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2454eh.txt.pdf

As for today's extra details, I thought I would look at the "Tree Planting" provisions in this bill.

Yes, the bill would spend "such sums" as may be necessary to fund tree planting programs, to provide shade (less power needed for air conditioning in the summer), wind protection during fall and winter, as well as have the trees gobble up carbon dioxide in the air.

Starting on page 393 of the bill, almost 14 pages of technical mumbo-jumbo are needed to detail the plans for tree planting.

For example, the feds will pay up to 50% of tree planting projects.

Power companies would also be given no less than 30 percent of the money in this section to help establish or continue tree-planting programs.

And there is great government-ese like this:

"The program shall use the best available science to create tree siting guidelines which dictate where the optimum tree species are best planted in locations that achieve maximum reductions in consumer energy demand while causing the least disruption to public infrastructure, considering overhead and underground facilities," it says on page 398.

On page 402, the bill talks about local "Technical Advisory Committees," which would help determine what trees should be used in tree-planting programs.

(You will be happy to know that you don't get paid for serving on one of those committees.)

The committees would be composed of:
*1-4 people representing the power industry
*1-4 members of the local tree-planting organizations
* up to 3 people from local nonprofit conservation or environmental organizations
* up to two people from local housing groups
* 1-3 from local governments
* up to one local government official dealing with roads
* up to 3 from the nursery and landscaping industry
* up to 3 from research or academia involving natural resources and energy management.

I'm just tired from writing all of that down.

And like I said earlier, tree planting programs seem to have a blank check in this bill. I mean, how much could that cost?

Have you read any of the Cap and Trade the bill yet? Why not?