Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott pushes carbon tax to fight non-existent global warming and to punish American producers… But, mostly to punish American producers.
The far left Democrat recently proposed a $10 per ton tax on coal exported to Asia.
Politico Pro reported:
These days in Congress, climate change is a question. Rep. Jim McDermott says a carbon tax is the answer.
McDermott (D-Wash.) will introduce a bill Thursday to create a carbon tax that he says will create incentives for long-term changes in the American energy market without harming the economy, and in fact providing much-needed revenues.
“A carbon tax is simple to administer and easy to understand. Over time, the price of carbon emissions is increased, which in turn, creates a market incentive to reduce emissions,” according to a fact sheet provided by his office.
McDermott doesn’t expect his legislation to move soon, he told POLITICO, but he wants to get the idea stewing in advance of possible tax reforms.
In politics, “you plant seeds. You put ideas out there and you let people think about” it, he said. “If someone has a better idea, I’m willing to consider it. I think that when we come back in January, we talk about tax reform. I don’t want it to be thrown on the table” at the last minute.
“So I’m putting it out there as a think-piece,” he said.
With so many people around the country suffering from drought, he said, it’s the perfect time to start the discussion.
Still, he’s bucking some big trends.
Since the slow death of cap and trade, Congress has been loath to pick up the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions — and to some degree, short on ideas.
Don’t call it a comeback, but climate change has been on the collective congressional mind this week.
The Senate environment committee held its first hearing in years on the state of climate change science, and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) took to the Senate floor to champion a need for action. On the other side of the debate, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) — the man who literally wrote the book on climate change skepticism — has been pressing the issue even more than usual lately, making several floor appearances.
And several environmental groups have increasingly sought to make climate change a campaign issue. Some conservative thinkers even got together recently to kick around the idea of a carbon tax.
On the other hand, any new tax is a poison pill to many lawmakers, especially tea party freshmen.
But McDermott said using electricity from carbon sources has a cost too, in terms of health and climate effects.
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