I could see him doubling down on what I think is a highly irresponsible approach to this, or I can see him drastically changing course and concluding this is a good issue politically,” he said.Ĭoons described the bills as a first step. “Like with all things Trump, it’s totally unpredictable. “As long as our president continues to insist climate is a hoax and as long as he is the most forceful voice in the Republican Party, that creates a headwind,” Coons said.Ĭurbelo, however, didn’t discount the idea that Trump could back a carbon tax. President Trump also seems unlikely to sign a carbon tax, though some Democratic presidential candidates have been embracing the issue. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) introduced a resolution earlier this year that expressed “the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy.” Many Republicans have opposed the idea of a carbon tax. … We need to build more bridges between the two parties, and have more bipartisan dialogue, if we are to take meaningful action.” “The climate is neither Democratic nor Republican, nor is it waiting around for us to resolve our political differences. “We are excited to see Republicans and Democrats focusing their attention on the effective tool of carbon pricing,” said Danny Richter, vice president of government affairs for the Citizens Climate Lobby. Long-time supporters of a carbon tax praised the spark of new legislation. “But I doubt that whatever passes is going to include a universal dividend, or have all the money go out in the shape of a dividend because I think most members of Congress will want to direct some of those resources to other priorities.” “I certainly think that anything that passes will have a dividend component to it, especially for low income families because that’s more of a moral issue,” Curbelo said. “In order to get to a bipartisan bill there are a number of things that might have to change,” he said on a call with reporters Thursday.Īs examples, he mentioned some of the money might have to go toward the research and development of new energy technologies and may have to consider a way to balance regulations so that power plants and other fossil fuel industries aren’t both taxed and heavily regulated under the Clean Air Act.Ĭurbelo predicted that a final bill would likely see a mix of both a dividend return to Americans and a regulated investment somewhere. While the various pieces of legislation differ largely based on what price carbon is initially set at, how quickly the rate is raised over time and where the profits or dividends will be ultimately distributed or invested, some lawmakers involved expressed a willingness to negotiate over the details.Ĭoons described his introduced legislation as his “ideal bill” on carbon pricing but said it would be necessary to change parts of the bill to win GOP support. The push to regulate greenhouse gas emissions come as both Democrats and Republicans face pressure from their constituents, and in some cases the fossil fuel industry itself, to regulate carbon emissions that lead to climate change. Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News.Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are introducing competing bills that aim to put a tax on carbon. talks in New York this week ( Climatewire, Sept. delegation in a climate discussion at the U.N. Gary Cohn, the top White House economic adviser, is expected to lead the U.S. Today's announcement comes on the first day of Climate Week, a summit that will run through Sunday in New York City, where government and private-sector leaders will converge to talk about the warming planet and what to do about it. "This is becoming the new 'normal' in the business world, proving that a low-carbon economy is not only vital for consumers and the planet, but also for future-proofing growth," Lila Karbassi of the U.N. The group has approved 71 targets, including 41 this year, it said. companies.Īfter joining, a company has two years to develop its targets, which Science Based Targets experts review. It says more than 300 businesses have committed to the program, including 50 U.S. The initiative, Science Based Targets, prods companies to establish plans to slash heat-trapping gases from their operations to help stave off devastating global warming. and HP Inc.-are setting the goals as part of a partnership launched by the United Nations and environmental groups. Some major apparel and digital technology companies will set goals to cut their greenhouse emissions based on climate science, they announced today.īrand-name businesses-including clothing companies Nike Inc., Gap Inc., Guess and Levi Strauss & Co., and tech firms Adobe Systems, Nokia Corp.
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