Hill Heat

As he announced he would last month, Rep. John Dingell (D-Detroit), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, unveiled draft legislation for a carbon emission fee and related elements.

Dingell is soliciting comment online.

• A $50 tax per ton of carbon (approximately equivalent to a $14 price on CO2, not the $100/ton CO2 reported by CNSNews) to be phased in over five years and then indexed to inflation
  • Revenues will be apportioned to Medicare and Social Security, universal healthcare, SCHIP, conservation, renewable energy research and development, and LIHEAP
• A $0.50/gallon gasoline tax to be phased in over five years and then indexed to inflation
  • Diesel would be excluded from this tax because “the fuel economy benefits of diesel surpass even its emissions benefits; it provides about a thirty percent increase in fuel economy and a twenty percent emissions reduction,” figures basically in line with the Union of Concerned Scientists report, The Diesel Dilemma “on an energy-equivalent basis, each gallon of diesel fuel results in about three percent more heat-trapping gas emissions than gasoline.”)
  • Biofuel blends would only be taxed on their petroleum content
  • Revenues go to the highway trust fund, with 40% going to the mass transit and 60% going to roads
• A $0.50/gallon jet fuel tax, with revenues going into the airport and airway trust fund
• McMansion provision: Phases out the mortgage interest deduction on primary mortgages on houses over 3000 square feet, going to zero for homes 4200 square feet and up
  • Exemptions for historical homes (prior to 1900) and farm houses
  • Exemptions for home owners who purchase carbon offsets to make home carbon neutral or own LEED certified homes
  • Budget savings will go to pay for an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit