Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., on Monday became the first Republican to introduce national carbon pricing legislation in nearly a decade, and challenged his party to confront climate change to save future generations from “crushing environmental debt.”
“While there are still some deniers out there, most Americans today understand that climate change caused by human activity is a reality that must be addressed,” Curbelo said at an event at the National Press Club.
“I remind my colleagues who often decry our nation’s growing debt that saddling young Americans with a crushing environmental debt, meaning an unhealthy planet, is at least as immoral as leaving behind an unsustainable fiscal debt,” Curbelo added. “The time to act is now.”
Curbelo, a moderate facing re-election whose South Florida district is already feeling the impact of rising sea levels, designed the bill to tempt Republicans into supporting a tax on carbon emissions by getting rid of the federal gas tax.
Curbelo’s bill would impose a tax beginning at $24 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2020, but which rises 2 percent annually above inflation. At the same time, it repeals the federal taxes on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels.
In a nod to Trump, the legislation would use the revenues from the carbon tax to fund improvements to America’s crumbling infrastructure, some of which would be directed for flood-mitigation projects and other initiatives to protect against climate change. Additionally, 10 percent of the carbon tax proceeds would to toward making energy more affordable for low-income people, and some of it would be used to help workers who are displaced by the tax.
While the bill stands little chance of immediate passage, Curbelo said he hoped to “spark a debate” about how carbon pricing is the most cost effective way to combat climate change.
“I truly believe that this bill or legislation similar to it will become law,” Curbelo said. “In the short term, it will spark an important debate about investing in our country’s infrastructure, the way we tax, and what to do to protect the environment from the perils of human-induced changes in the climate.”
But Curbelo’s bill quickly prompted an effort by people in his own party to kill it, including Americans for Tax Reform, which hosted a competing an event Monday morning at the National Press Club to highlight conservative opposition to a carbon tax. Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist predicted the bill is already dead, in part because it would increase federal tax revenues and spend them.
Curbelo countered Monday that any legislative solution to address climate change will have immediate costs, but save money in the future, especially for low-income people who are less mobile to respond to the environmental changes from global warming.
“We know we will see in some parts of the country higher utility rates,” Curbelo said. “We remind everyone the poor are the most vulnerable to climate change. By taking care of the planet, we are first taking care of the most vulnerable among us.”
A new independent study, led by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, found that Curbelo’s legislation would cause little damage to the overall economy, while dramatically reducing planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.
“In a vacuum, any tax is detrimental to economic growth,” Curbelo said. “More and more Republicans understand how carbon pricing could fit into the context of infrastructure investment, tax reform, and take into account the economic benefits of fighting climate change and mitigating the forecasts of what climate change can mean for areas like South Florida and many others across the country.”
The Florida Republican said the bill is not a finished product, and encouraged fellow lawmakers to file amendments to it. He did not announce any additional sponsors to the bill, but he said “many” lawmakers are interested in putting their name to it.
Curbelo also said he intends to propose his carbon pricing plan to the White House, and expects the administration to be receptive to his intent to use the proceeds of the tax to invest in infrastructure.
“What were tried to do was find the intersection between good policy and the political energy of the moment,” Curbelo said. “While those invested in the depressing paradigm of bipolar politics will dismiss it summarily, many others will offer constructive criticisms and helpful ideas. Once this is filed, you are going to see more movement away from that reflexive knee-jerk reaction to the idea of carbon pricing.”
