WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to push ahead with efforts to aggressively limit greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming despite fears that it could further slow the recessionary economy.

Instead of backing away, the administration plans to portray the limits as a boost for America's "clean energy economy," according to congressional leaders and energy experts who have talked with top Obama advisers. The step would spur competitiveness and promote investment in renewable alternatives to imported oil, the government will argue.

At issue is the so-called cap and trade initiative, under which the government would set limits on carbon emissions by power plants, factories and other installations but allow those that emit more to buy or trade permits with companies and facilities that emit less than the prescribed limit.

The idea is that raising the cost of pumping more carbon into the atmosphere would encourage companies and other emitters to cut back, thus reducing a principle cause of global warming.

But cap-and-trade would amount to a tax, raising energy costs. And several independent studies have suggested that emissions limits could be a drag on economic growth, a concern raised frequently by opponents of climate change legislation.

Economists generally agree. Peter Orszag, the former head of the Congressional Budget Office who now heads the White House Office of Management and Budget, told Congress last year that emissions limits would reduce long-term economic risks but "also impose costs on the economy ... in the form of higher prices for energy and energy-intensive goods."

Details of the administration's approach are far from set, though Obama has repeatedly said he favors cap-and-trade.

Today, Obama will reveal a policy that will allow states to control their own car tailpipe emissions, according to an official familiar with the decision.

California and at least 13 other states want waivers from the federal Clean Air Act so they can impose stiffer air pollution standards than the federal government.