Is A Tax on Carbon Possible?

Several weeks ago in a column titled “VESTED INTERESTS,” I registered my distress that the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal body responsible for protecting our air and water, is now being led by Andrew Wheeler, who has spent his career as chief lobbyist for the coal industry. In that column I suggested that the only legislative approach that had a chance of being passed is a tax on carbon at the point it is produced; the well-head or the mine-face. Subsequently I received a letter from John Wolfersberger, a long-time colleague, who has followed the legislative progress of a carbon tax bill that is gaining congressional momentum. With his permission I am quoting here a substantial part of his letter.

For the last four years I have been a member of the Citizen's Climate Lobby, which is currently meeting the second Saturday of each month at the Napier Center. (C.B.This building is about 20 yards from our apartment.) CCL now has 105 chapters across the U.S. and a few international ones. It has taken ten years, but we finally have legislation before congress,

HR 763. currently has 32 co-sponsors in the House and the number is rapidly growing. It is called The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. It calls for a fee of $15 per metric ton on all fossil fuel mined from the earth, coal, oil, and gas. It is bi-partisan and revenue neutral, that is it doesn't cost the government or the taxpayer anything. The net revenue will be distributed to each American household from the U.S Treasury Dept.

Marsha and I are going to Washington D.C. June 7-12 to the National CCL Conference. There will be 1,200 of us lobbying every House office for HR763. If passed, the legislation, with careful number crunching, will bring down CO2 emissions by 40% in the next decade and by 90% in the second decade. This is not the Green New Deal which is a broad wish list by the Democrats that is already getting a lot of Republican push back. It will take the Green New Deal years to define itself and gain traction. HR 763 is now!

Way to go John and Marsha! For several years there have been occasional reports focused on the work of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby. But it has not been until the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives that any serious action mandating a carbon tax seemed possible. Now, however, there is a growing movement led by the CCL, believing that the time has arrived for legislative action. HR763 has broken the silence and now needs the support of those concerned about the planet’s survival. Three avenues for actions are immediately appare

First, if there is an active Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapter in your area, get in touch with it.https:ww// citizens’climatelobby.org

Second, contact your member of Congress—which probably means a staffer in his/her office. Ask if she/he has signed on as a sponsor of HR 763. If not, push the issue.

Third, it is obvious that there will be no serious progress on this bill until there is a change in the White House AND the Senate. Until that happens next year the issue must be kept alive, and that means constant pressure at the grass roots. So stay in touch with your representatives, and become involved in the 2020 election campaign through you local party organization

CCL does not suggest it has the only answer, but my guess is it is the only one that is doable. “Cap and Trade” will never work. There is “The New Green Deal,” chock full of very good things, and it could be the multi-trillion dollar answer to the environmental crisis, but getting that or any part of it enacted remains a generation-long struggle. But the reality is that the rapidity with which the planet is disintegrating may not allow any far distant solution

Whoever is finally nominated by the Democrats, it is hoped that this complex issue will be the keystone in their November 2020 campaign. Various candidates will develop other proposals, but HR763 already has political momentum. Keep your eye on its progress as it makes its way through the legislative labyrinth, and do what you can to help it become law.