Americans for Tax Reform encourages members of the House of Representatives to vote “YES” on H. Con. Res. 86, Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy.
The House of Representatives will vote Thursday on House Concurrent Resolution 86 introduced by Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) with 21 cosponsors including Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who has introduced a version of the resolution in every Congress since 2013.
The House last voted on the anti-carbon tax resolution in 2018, when Republicans last controlled the House. The vote passed 229-180, with 7 Democrats joining the overwhelming majority or Republicans.
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.
Passing H. Con. Res. 86 will be a strong show of force from the House of Representatives, demonstrating continued opposition to damaging carbon taxes which would increase costs on American families.
Members of Congress should vote “YES” on H. Con. Res. 86 and continue to oppose carbon taxes in all forms.