July - 2013
Carbon Pollution Tax Is Timelier Than Ever.

President Obama’s June 25th Whitehouse Climate Action Plan represents important progress. It recognizes the severity of climate disruption, boosts renewable energy and energy efficiency, and backs EPA enforcement of Clean Air Act regulations for existing coal-fired power plants. These are commendable steps in the right direction. But they are not enough. Congressional action on pricing carbon emissions is as-needed and timelier as ever!

As a recent MIT policy study explains persuasively, a carbon tax can simultaneously curb carbon emissions, reduce the deficit, spark clean energy and spur economic growth. Thomas Friedman said the same on March 17th, in his New York Times column (It’s Lose-Lose vs. Win-Win-Win-Win-Win).

Consider these developments:

  • House Republican leadership and the Senate Democratic leadership are each preparing tax-reform proposals. These are timely occasions to make a strong case for connecting a revenue-neutral carbon pollution fee with tax-reform.
  • The cornerstone of the new Sanders-Boxer Climate Protection Act is a $20/ton carbon tax. The Bill will generate Senate hearings in the coming weeks: unprecedented opportunities to inform lawmakers, the media and the public on the merits of taxing carbon.
  • The Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, co-chaired by  Rep. Henry Waxman and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, is also seeking to boost Congressional action.
  • On June 25th, President Obama reiterated his call to Congress for a market-based bill.
  • Millions of Americans still recovering from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, the heat and the droughts of 2012, and the floods of 2013. Increasingly worried about future extreme weather events and climate disruption, they are eager for effective, fair, economically-sound climate policy.
  • Climate activism is growing with Keystone XL and dirty coal energy protests engaging diverse grassroots constituents, including those in red states.

In seeking bipartisan support, we note these words from a senior GOP statesman:

“We have to have a system where all forms of energy bear their full costs… That means putting a price on carbon… The most appealing way is a revenue-neutral carbon tax.” (George Shultz, treasury secretary under Pres. Nixon, secretary of state under Pres. Reagan, speaking in 2012.) “Good work on conservation and the environment is in the Republican gene. We’ve been the guys who did it,” he added in a visit to Capitol Hill on March 9. “So we’ve just got to get back to that.”


      

We need your help!

Now, with the focus of our nation on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, our mission has a new urgency. A carbon pollution tax that also addresses tax reform and deficit gridlock is timelier than ever. White House action is welcomed, but is not enough. We need Congressional action more than ever. If we cannot get this Congress to act, we must persevere with an eye on getting concrete results in the next Congress.

The quicker we act, now that the President has stepped up to the plate, the more influence we can have. Please, donate what you can. With your assistance, we can jumpstart this timely effort!

Contact Us

Pricing Carbon Initiative
P.O. Box 125, South Lee, MA 01260. 
413-243-5665
Tom Stokes, Coordinator
tstokes@kyotoandbeyond.org

 

      

Effective Climate Policy:
Direct Carbon Pricing
Senate Briefing / July 13, 2009

Carbon Tax Briefing
Washington DC, 12/9/08

 

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