Exxon Mobile, other oil giants, support new carbon tax proposal

At first glance, I fully expected Rod Serling to announce that we’re in some kind of fictitious zone. It’s the last thing I ever expected – Exxon Mobile and other oil conglomerates are supporting a carbon tax proposal. Cue unsettling music and cheesy ‘50s special effects.

On closer inspection, this particular carbon tax proposal is exactly the sort industry would endorse (if any).

This latest proposal calls for scrapping the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan and replacing it with a more market-driven approach (sorta). A group of Republicans – known as the Climate Leadership Council – endorse a plan that would tax greenhouse gas emissions and return the money to taxpayers as a “climate dividend.”

Exxon Mobile and other oil giants recently gave their seal of approval.

The “conservative climate solution” is a stark departure from the much-ballyhooed cap and trade proposals that would enable the sale (and trade) of “carbon credits” to offset emissions. Cap and trade’s latest iteration – the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 – died before reaching the Senate.

The CLC’s plan would set an initial price of $40 per ton of CO₂ produced, and total revenue is estimated at $200-300 billion per year. According to the NY Times, this would average out to a $2,000 “climate dividend” per family of four.

In addition, the plan would incorporate “border adjustments,” increasing tariffs on goods from countries that don’t have a similar plan, and the “conservative climate solution” would inure companies against lawsuits alleging corporate complicity in climate change.

But as the Times points out, the proposal could meet with bipartisan resistance. Supporters of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan oppose its repeal, while others would prefer the “climate dividend” be reinvested in alternative energy. Still others oppose any type of carbon tax proposal, whatsoever. No word on where the Trump administration stands.

I leave the final word to you, the readers. What do you think about this particular carbon tax proposal?