by Nick Pope
Dozens of energy policy and advocacy groups signed a letter to Congress on Monday to express their opposition to the bill, which they say could be a first step toward carbon taxes or tariffs.
The letter is calling on House lawmakers to vote against the PROVE IT Act, a bill that has not yet been introduced in the lower house but is expected to do so soon. The PROVE IT Act – which has already been introduced in the Senate – would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to study the greenhouse gas intensity of goods, including aluminum, steel, plastics and petroleum, produced in the U.S. and the greenhouse gas intensity of products from other countries. countries, According to Down E&E News.
Supporters of the bill typically describe it as a way to reward U.S. companies for producing goods in a greener way than other countries that care less about the environment. His opponents — including the organizations that signed on to Monday’s letter — see the bill as a potential stepping stone toward carbon rates and national carbon taxes, in part because it effectively instructs the government to put a price on carbon emissions at potentially inappropriate restrictions placed on what the government can operate this indicator in the future.
“By creating a federal administrative framework, Congress would remove one of the greatest obstacles to imposing carbon taxes on both imported and domestically produced goods,” the letter says. “It is clear that this information will then be used to impose new ‘climate’ taxes, just as Democrats in Congress did in the summer of 2022.”
“Many supporters of the bill clearly acknowledge that these provisions will be used to develop some type of carbon tax,” the letter continues. “After implementing a carbon tax on imported goods, the United States will inevitably impose a domestic carbon tax. This is due both to obligations under trade law and to the fact that environmental groups and others do not remain silent when domestic industries fail to meet similar greenhouse gas reduction obligations.”
The letter further criticized the PROVE IT Act as a bill that would impose fresh taxes, criminalize energy consumption and hit lower-income people particularly tough. Utah Republican John Curtis (pictured above), who is running for Senate in Utah, is the lead GOP sponsor of the yet-unreleased version of the House bill, According to Down E&E News.
Organizations that signed the letter include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, the Commonwealth Foundation and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. While the groups that signed the letter and some Republicans oppose the PROVE IT Act, some Republicans and the American Petroleum Institute (API) oppose in favor of the bill.
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Nick Pope is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Utah Rep. John Curtis” by Representative John Curtis. Cover photo “Utah State Capitol” by Patrick Morris.
