A few carbon pricing plans have drawn attention in recent months. One plan, support by some prominent Republicans and several major oil companies, calls for removing greenhouse gas regulation in exchange for a carbon fee-and-dividend system. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images A coalition of business and environmental groups, working with the support of some major oil companies, took a carbon pricing plan to the U.S. House’s main tax-writing committee on Wednesday. It was the Ways and Means Committee’s first climate-related hearing in a dozen years, and members of both parties treated the topic with kid gloves. For the panel to be talking at all about climate change is momentous—it signals that carbon taxing has moved into the realm of the possible. But members were cautious to avoid endorsing any specific idea. The Democrats, now in control of the House, weren’t there to back any particular legislative plan, but they called the group to make its pitch as part of an effort to explore "the economic and health consequences of climate change." Committee Republicans, meanwhile, sought to convey serious concern about the costs of global warming, even though they opposed any solution that included a tax. Our stories. Your inbox. Every […]
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