WASHINGTON – Some the America’s largest corporations are pitching a carbon tax plan to Republicans and Democrats in Congress, enlisting figures including former Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen and former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to try to sell the proposal.
The Climate Leadership Council, which includes companies such as Exxon Mobil, JP Morgan Chase and AT&T, is proposing legislation that would create a $40 per ton tax on all carbon emissions. The tax would increase 5 percent per year above inflation, with the revenues returned to taxpayers through a dividend.
The council says such a tax would cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2035. The tax doesn’t meet that goal, it would increase at even faster rate. In exchange, the council and its members want to halt U.S. carbon regulations.
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