March 25,2019

Gerard Scimeca – Chairman, CASE

Florida Congressman Francis Rooney has signed-on as a co-sponsor to something called the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA), a bill that is being heavily touted as “bi-partisan” piece of legislation. This should interest his constituents for two reasons. First, he is the only Republican co-sponsoring the bill, which certainly deflates the notion that it has shared support from both sides of the aisle. Second, this EICDA is nothing more than a giant tax on energy — a carbon tax — that will make all Americans pay a lot more for the things we buy every day, but of course the word “tax” is nowhere in the title.

By design, the carbon tax bill intends to raise the cost of energy so that people will use less of it. This is part of a larger attempt to coerce energy producers to innovate and move toward cleaner but still far more expensive alternatives like wind and solar. But make no mistake, we will all pay more not only for direct sources of energy, such as gas for our cars and electricity for our homes and buildings, but higher prices on everything that is produced with energy, which means everything. It’s why Mark Mills of the Manhattan Institute called it a “tax on existence.” If the aim of carbon tax supporters is to devise a plan that will weigh down the economy, grow government with massive new taxing and spending power, and bring growth to a screeching halt, well then mission accomplished.

Despite the fact that Rep. Rooney’s constituents are overwhelmingly conservative and side with lower taxes and less government, the lawmaker is marching to his own drum on this issue, continually embracing the misguided notion that a carbon tax is a conservative solution when it is neither conservative nor a solution to any problem Americans care about.  Let’s summarize what a carbon tax is and seeks to accomplish:

– Raises the cost of energy across the economy, weighing down economic growth, job creation, and American economic competitiveness;

– Grows government through a central planning scheme that will redistribute revenues collected to liberal groups and constituencies;

– Incrementally increases the tax over and above the rate of inflation for the next two decades;

– Raises the prices on imported goods through a “BAT” – aka border adjustment tax;

– Is praised and supported by far-left liberal politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, and has long been a wish-list item on the platform of the radical environmental movement;

– Subsidizes green energy and empowers government to dictate to consumers and businesses what kind of energy we should be using to reshape our economy to suit radical environmentalists.

And what do Americans get in return for shouldering massive hikes in energy costs and a weaker economy? Absolutely nothing. Going by the government’s own climate science data, the effect of the carbon tax would be absolutely negligible in affecting global temperatures. America is already using energy more efficiently, and is a world leader in reducing carbon emissions without a tax. Meanwhile Europe and Asia are increasing their carbon emissions, so in effect U.S. politicians like Rooney would jigger our entire economy to wean us off fossil fuels to use more windmills and solar panels, which are far less efficient, far less reliable, and far more costly.

We expect socialist Utopian schemes from the Democrats, who loathe the private sector and don’t believe there is any part of our lives they should not control. But for a self-described conservative like Rep. Rooney to be in cahoots with the left to give cover to an oppressive government scheme that would be right at home in the Green New Deal is just utter nonsense. And there is certainly more nonsense to come, as supporters of this plan will most assuredly shower us with promises of how this bill will create jobs, boost our economy, and “save the planet.” But despite burying the lede by calling a tax a “dividend,” there is never anything innovative or new in attempting to herd Americans toward a liberal fantasy that raises taxes across 80% of our economy. It’s just an awful and massive new tax on energy that will hurt consumers, smother our economy and make a lot of liberals and radical environmentalists very, very happy.