In November 2018, Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-D), who is pictured, introduced his Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA), a new ‘Carbon tax’ that is expected to be voted on by the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
According to the official U.S. Congress website, Deutch’s carbon tax bill would “amend the Internal Revenue Code to impose a fee on carbon content of fuels.”
The fuels include coal, natural gas, crude oil, and any other fuels that are produced from these fuels.
According to the bill, the tax is imposed on fuel producers at a rate that begins $15 in 2019, and increases $10 each year after
“The fees must be deposited into a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund and used for administrative expenses and dividend payments to U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The fees must be decommissioned when emissions levels and monthly dividend payments fall below specified levels.
The bill also amends the Clean Air Act to suspend certain regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions. The suspensions expire if the emissions targets established by this bill are not reached after a specified time period.” –Congress.gov
The bill is a bipartisan effort by (9) Republican and Democratic legislators, including three Floridians.
Former Republican turned Democrat, Rep. Charlie Crist (D) and Rep. Francis Rooney (R), cosponsored Deutch’s bill.
There is no secret or tricky wording in the text off bill. Simply put, the bill imposes taxes on producers, who will then pass along the added costs to consumers.
If this bill is passed into law, Americans will be burdened with another tax.
According to an opinion-editorial posted in southwest Florida’s News-Press news agency, that is critical of Rep. Rooney because of the very conservative-leaning congressional district he represents, the bill would “lower American living standards” and is “absolutely negligible.”
Supporters claim it will “save the planet,” by weaning us off fossil fuels and return a “dividend” back to consumers and taxpayers. This is nonsense. America is among the top nations in reducing carbon dioxide without the tax. Meanwhile, Asia and Europe are increasing their emissions. Rooney’s carbon tax, which disproportionately hurts low-income consumers, would lower American living standards while subsidizing other nations.
The tax will further have zero impact on global temperatures. Even when going by the government’s own climate science data, the effect of Rooney’s carbon tax would be absolutely negligible. Under the most optimistic scenarios, the effect would amount to mere fractions of a degree.
If the bill passes in the House, it must then pass in the U.S. Senate, before reaching the president’s desk. The Republican-led U.S. Senate isn’t expected to pass a tax-imposing piece of legislation.
