By Nick Sobczyk, E&E News, May 11, 2021
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers have reintroduced the carbon tax bill first drawn up by former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) last week announced the latest version of the "MARKET CHOICE Act."
The last version of the bill would have imposed a $35-per-ton tax on carbon emissions — rising 5% per year — with revenues funneled to infrastructure investment to replace the federal gasoline tax (E&E News PM, Sept. 26, 2019).
Neither Carbajal nor Fitzpatrick responded to a request for the text of the latest version of the legislation, H.R. 3039.
"Climate change demands our immediate attention and the Market Choice Act is a crucial way to move the ball forward while enhancing our crumbling infrastructure," Carbajal said in a statement.
When Curbelo introduced the legislation in 2018, it was seen as a milestone, the first GOP-backed carbon pricing bill in years.
Fitzpatrick could be a key moderate as Democrats and the White House forge ahead this year on infrastructure and climate legislation, but the bill may struggle to gain a foothold, with President Biden resistant to raising user fees to pay for roads, bridges and highways.
The bill is backed by a variety of advocacy groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and the Nature Conservancy.