All Eyes on Carbon Tax Vote

by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) CARBON COPY: Today's largely symbolic vote on an anti-carbon tax resolution could offer Republicans helpful campaign-trail fodder against Democrats — but it comes with a price tag for some of the House's most endangered moderates. Pro's Anthony Adragna reports this morning on the dilemma facing the more than 40 House GOP members of the Climate Solutions Caucus, who are stuck in a no-win position. Environmentalists say opposing the resolution is the least those members could do, but it would require them to buck party leadership whose support they'll need in the midterms.

The nonbinding resolution in question, H. Con. Res. 119 (115), from Majority Whip Steve Scalise, declares a carbon tax "detrimental to American families and businesses." It has the support of conservatives such as the Koch brothers' business and political network, Anthony reports. It also has a history: When a similar resolution popped up two years ago, Republicans voted en masse that a carbon tax is "not in the best interest."

But this time around, the dynamics have shifted, with a growing number of moderate or politically embattled Republicans trying to show voters that they take seriously the threat of climate change — something not mentioned in Scalise's resolution. Environmental groups have made it clear they're watching today's vote closely to see if Republicans joined the caucus more for political cover than in support of any ideology. "There are some of the members of the Climate Solutions Caucus who appear to have done it for greenwashing purposes," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, the senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters. Read more.

— Republicans: Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Dave Reichert, Ryan Costello, Frank LoBiondo, Elise Stefanik, Mark Sanford, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mike Coffman and Barbara Comstock.

— Democrats (who voted for the last resolutions): Reps. Henry Cuellar, Collin Peterson, Sanford Bishop and Kyrsten Sinema (who's running for Senate in Arizona).

SOUND OFF: Forty-one conservative groups signed onto a letter to lawmakers this week calling on them to support the anti-carbon tax resolution. "We oppose any carbon tax," said the groups, which include the American Energy Alliance and Competitive Enterprise Institute.

— Conservative groups receptive to climate policies, including the R Street Institute and American Enterprise Institute, sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan criticizing the resolution for ignoring the threat of climate change. "An economy-wide carbon tax that replaces existing regulatory interventions could reduce the cost of climate policy and deregulate the economy," they wrote.

— Sixteen green groups sent a letter objecting to the resolution, which they said "is a tiresome effort advanced by the Koch brothers and their 'Just Say No' partners that deny the need to take any action on climate." READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo is expected to unveil his carbon tax legislation today to address climate change. The bill will reportedly propose replacing the existing federal gasoline tax with a $23-per-ton carbon tax, and would adjust 2 percent above inflation annually. The proposal would direct 70 percent of revenues to the Highway Trust Fund, E&E News reported. Curbelo will discuss the proposal — dubbed the "MARKET CHOICE Act" — during an event this morning (July 23, 2018) with Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and the Niskanen Center. Livestream here.

Changing course: Last week the House voted to declare a carbon tax "detrimental" to the economy — though six House Republicans, including Curbelo, broke with party leadership in support of the tax. Seven Democrats also crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the resolution. The vote showed a slight shift on the idea, considering a similar resolution two years ago received unanimous support from Republicans. Curbelo, who is the co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus, told POLITICO last week he agreed a carbon tax "on its own" wouldn't be the best way forward and could harm the economy. But he added "there are smarter, more innovative solutions that would not only reduce carbon emissions and mitigate for the effects they have on our planet."

Competing voices: The conservative Americans for Tax Reform will hold its own discussion today on what it calls "a giant job-crushing carbon tax," with group President Grover Norquist and Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, among others. ATR released its own memo on the Curbelo bill, which it says authorizes a U.N.-style "National Climate Commission" that would "shovel taxpayer money to 'consultants.'" The bill "is a direct attack on American manufacturing and competitiveness," Norquist said in a statement.

But they're not the only ones weighing in: Analyses on Curbelo's proposal abound ahead of today's unveiling. Columbia's energy policy center released a report with the Rhodium Group and the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. It found that the Curbelo bill would lead to economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions reductions that would outpace the United States' contribution to the Paris climate agreement. Separately, Resources for the Future, a research nonprofit, projected that energy-related CO2 emissions would be approximately 29 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 under the bill. READ MORE