Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is looking to stop the idea of a carbon tax from getting any traction on Capitol Hill.
The Missouri senator introduced a non-binding resolution Tuesday against imposing a tax on the most common greenhouse gas emission from fossil fuels: carbon dioxide.
The idea of a carbon tax has floated around Washington for years as a simpler alternative to reduce emissions in the battle against climate change than more complex cap-and-trade market rules or the Obama administration’s climate regulations on power plants. Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels for driving manmade climate change.
The resolution immediately received the backing of a 25-member coalition of free-market groups led by the conservative American Energy Alliance, which is pushing for such resolutions to be passed in both the Senate and House.
Blunt said a carbon tax would place a new national fee on the use of all fossil fuels that historically have supplied nearly 80 percent of the nation’s energy supply.
“Anyone who goes to the grocery store, flips a light switch or goes to the doctor would feel the effects, particularly the low and middle-income families that can least afford it,” Blunt said. “Imposing a national tax on the types of energy we rely on most would drive up costs for hardworking families and run our economy into the ground.
“This resolution puts the Senate on record against a carbon tax, and I hope my colleagues will join me in protecting all Americans from this misguided policy,” he said.
He noted that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported in 2013 that a carbon tax would burden low-income families the most.
He also cited an industry report issued by the industry group National Association of Manufacturers, which found that a carbon tax would cost the economy between 3.7 million and 20 million jobs by 2053.
The free-market coalition said in a letter to Blunt that policies such as a carbon tax “inhibit or distort the marketplace.”
The tax on fossil fuels would “act as an economic anchor, reducing prosperity and lowering the standard of living that American families have worked hard to attain,” the coalition says.
