There Are Two Carbon Tax Plans: The Oil Companies Favor One Of Them - Here's Why
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How Much Regulatory Rollback?
Baker-Shultz proposal: Streamlining regulations and curbing state authority over climate policy are among the goals of the industry-backed Americans for Carbon Dividends, the political action group backing the Baker-Shultz plan. Its managing director, Ryan Costello, says the group has not yet decided on how broad a regulatory rollback it would seek. Exxon, in backing the proposal, has said existing carbon regulations would be made "superfluous" by a carbon tax.
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act: The Deutch bill would pause the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act for 10 years. If national climate goals remain unmet at that point, EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act would be restored. (The Trump administration has proposed revoking and replacing the EPA regulations.) The bill would leave in place limits on emissions from vehicles, including California's authority to apply more stringent emission standards. The bill also specifies that it would not preempt or supersede any state law or regulation, protecting renewable energy and clean fuel standards, the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other steps that states have taken on climate change.
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Baker-Shultz proposal: Part of the package that is especially important to the proposal's industry supporters is curbing lawsuits against energy companies involving climate change—"once and for all, putting a can on that ... so that we have a comprehensive climate solution," said Costello.
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act: The right to sue would be protected by the Deutch bill's provision that it would not preempt or supersede any state law or regulation.
Why it matters: The oil and gas industry currently is embroiled in legal disputes brought by states, cities and children over the industry's role in global warming. The companies have won some opening rounds of this litigation, but that doesn't diminish the liability peril they face.
"They are in the position where they have to win everything," said David Bookbinder, chief counsel of the libertarian think tank Niskanen Center, who is representing Boulder and other local governments in Colorado that are suing oil companies for climate damages, "Because as soon as they lose one case, things are going to go very bad for them very quickly." Any defeat for fossil fuel companies would trigger more lawsuits against them.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07032019/carbon-tax-proposals-compare-baker-shultz-exxon-conocophillips-ccl-congress
