The Obama administration will make a bold move by proposing, in the 2017 federal budget, a tax on oil-producing companies by charging them $10 for every barrel of oil produced. The move is bold because the proposed tax must pass through a Republican-controlled Congress, unlike the Clean Power Plan, and most of the administration’s other climate-change efforts. The revenue would be recycled into green infrastructure programs, renewable energy R&D, and, what I’m most excited about, grants and other financial incentive programs allocated to states that invest in low-carbon public transportation, as well as urban planning intended to reduce GHG emissions. Given that many states (the ones that aren’t already ahead of the game) will have to eventually implement energy infrastructure plans that comply with Clean Power Plan mandates, the incentives outlined in the budget proposal will make implementing holistic climate change plans more appealing to states. Additionally, since some of the barrel-tax costs will be passed onto the consumer, states will face additional incentives to reduce their oil consumption.

Of course, the budget proposal will have to include measures that are highly appealing to Republican Congress members in order to have any chance of passing. I’m not sure how the Obama administration will go about this.

I’m also worried that, since some of the costs will, indeed, be passed onto consumers, that poor people will face disproportionate short-term economic burdens. I haven’t read anything that says that some of the revenue-recycling will be earmarked to offset this burden. This is disheartening, and worrisome. Any efforts to address climate change should simultaneously address climate justice, and this proposal may set a federal precedent to ignore climate justice altogether.

http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/02/05/stories/1060031881