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Today, Democrats on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released a new climate action plan calling for a national carbon tax and a dramatic expansion of taxpayer subsidies for “green” industries favored by Democrats. 

Among a litany of taxpayer-funded handouts included in the plan, House Democrats would extend and expand subsidies for the wind and solar industries as well as tax credits for electric vehicle owners. Unsurprisingly, the plan is also filled with unrelated treats for labor unions such as prevailing wage requirements meant to satisfy Democrat constituencies. 

Below are just some of the costly provisions included in the report.

Creates of a massive national carbon tax

“Congress should establish a carbon pricing system designed to achieve America’s economywide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of net-zero by no later than 2050.” 

House Democrats also dispel the often-repeated myth that a carbon tax would be introduced in exchange for a reduction in existing regulations on emissions.

“Congress should not offer liability relief or nullify Clean Air Act authorities or other existing statutory duties to cut pollution in exchange for a carbon price.”

Subsidies for the Wind Industry

The action plan recommends that  “Congress should extend the Section 45 PTC for wind energy.” 

The plans specifically references the GREEN Act of 2020 (H.R. 7330), which would “preserve the Section 45 PTC at existing phaseout levels through 2020 but would extend the tax credit at 60% through 2025.

The plan also calls for specific subsidies for offshore wind:

“Congress should provide a long-term extension of the Section 48 ITC for offshore wind energy projects. Congress should provide a direct pay option for clean energy tax credits.” 

Subsidies for the Solar Industry

“Congress should extend the Section 48 ITC for solar energy generation. Congress should provide a direct pay option for clean energy tax credits.“

House Democrats also include unrelated provisions meant as a handout to politically favored labor unions. Under their plan to “Expand Low-Income Residential Solar” Democrats mandate that “Federal support for projects should be conditioned on recipients meeting strong labor standards (including Buy America/n and Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements), complying with all labor, environmental, and civil rights statutes, and signing community benefit agreements and project labor agreements, where relevant.”

Expanding Electric Vehicle Tax Credits

Democrats recommend Congress “raise the per-manufacturer cap on the electric vehicle tax credit to support the deployment of these vehicles” while also highlighting legislation that would double the value of existing tax credits for EV owners. Specifically, the action plan highlights legislation (H.R. 5393) from Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) that “increases the electric vehicle tax credit to $15,000 for cars costing less than $35,000.”

New $5,000 Tax Credit for Used Electric Vehicles.

“Congress should enact a federal tax incentive and/or create a grant program to facilitate the consumer purchase of used electric vehicles.” 

The plan again highlights legislation from Rep. Speier that “creates a $5,000 tax credit for the purchase of a used electric vehicle.” This means that Democrats are proposing taxpayers foot the bill for up to to $20,000 of the original cost of a $35,000 electric vehicle when combining Rep. Speier’s tax credits for new and used EVs.