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Published by The Washington Post.
Once seen as a moderate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has become the Republican that environmentalists love to hate--ever since she introduced a resolution last month that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.
But Murkowski has been quietly working on an alternative climate proposal, one that may stand a decent chance of attracting bipartisan support. In an interview Friday, McKie Campbell, GOP staff director on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, shed some light on the senator's strategy.
"We're currently looking at a variety of options, including a net-zero carbon tax," Campbell said.
Campbell didn't disclose many details of the plan, which he emphasized is still being vetted by Murkowski and her staff. He said it would include provisions to ensure it had "environmental and economic integrity." That means there would be ways to assess the fact that it was a) cutting carbon emissions in line with the bill's overall reduction target and b) raising the price of carbon without harming the overall economy.
In general, a net-zero carbon tax works like this: you put a price on carbon that raises the cost of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas (which in turn makes other goods and services such as electricity more expensive). To balance it out you cut some other federal tax, such as payroll taxes, so in the end, the average American is not suffering an economic hit, but has less of an incentive to consume fossil fuels.
Can a cost-neutral carbon tax fly in the Senate? Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) has floated it before, and it's never gained traction. But it's something many economists have embraced, and given the uncertain prospects for a bill capping carbon outright, anything that can get 60 votes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions might attract significant support at this point.
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