ATR Applauds Anti-Carbon Tax Vote in the House

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution condemning carbon taxes, the first such vote since 2018.

Americans for Tax Reform released a Key Vote Alert in favor of the resolution ahead of the vote.

The House approved H. Con. Res. 86, “Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy,” by a vote of 222-196. The resolution was introduced by Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) and featured 21 cosponsors including Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who has introduced a version of the resolution in every Congress since 2013.

This vote shows that the momentum is on the anti-carbon tax side. In 2018, just seven Democrats voted in favor of the resolution opposing carbon taxes, while six Republicans voted against it. This week, ten Democrats crossed party lines to join Republicans in voting yes. Only one Republican, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), voted against the resolution.

Americans for Tax Reform has long opposed any form of a carbon tax.  A carbon tax would raise the cost of heating your home in the winter and cooling your home in the summer. It raises the cost of filling your car. A carbon tax increases the cost of everything Americans buy and lowers Americans’ effective take home pay while increasing the power, cost and intrusiveness of the government in our lives.

In January, a coalition of conservative organizations released a letter opposing the most recent effort in Congress to further carbon tax legislation.

The Zinke resolution notes that a carbon tax “will increase energy prices,” “will lead to less economic growth,” and “will increase the cost of every good manufactured in the United States.” Instead of imposing a costly carbon tax, the resolution calls on Congress and the President to “focus on pro-growth solutions that encourage increased development of domestic resources.”

Congressional Democrats have continued to propose legislation in recent years which would impose a carbon tax on the American people. For example, in 2021, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) began working on legislation to create a carbon tax that would start as high as $18 per ton of CO2 and increase over time. Such a proposal could increase taxes by more than one trillion dollars over a decade.

More recently, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee voted to pass the  “PROVE IT Act,” which would lay the groundwork for a carbon border tax and a future domestic carbon tax. These misguided proposals would raise costs for all Americans and disproportionately target the poor and elderly with higher energy costs. They also violate President Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year––a pledge that the President has already broken repeatedly.

Americans for Tax Reform applauds the House majority for opposing carbon taxes in all forms.