![]() ![]() “They feel that the momentum is shifting as the conversation commences, and they are trying to beat down any thoughtful analysis with a tribal drum that they are nervously beating louder,” said former Rep. Other carbon tax advocates expressed glass-half-full optimism, arguing the mere push for a vote by fossil fuel allies betrays their concern about the increasing support for the idea of putting a price on carbon to fight climate change. “In my mind, if you can get a handful of Republicans to vote no on this, that’s a victory.” The Conversation Is Shifting: Republicans Consider Carbon Pricing ![]() We’re willing to look at that and say, yeah, it’s not a simple choice for them. “There’s a lot of calculations that go into a decision like this. “Anybody who votes against this resolution-it’s going to be a mark against them in the eyes of the leadership, which decides what assignments you get, whether or not you’re on the committee you want, and who’s chair,” Valk said. 3 Republican in the chamber and a potential successor to Ryan, who is retiring. Valk said he did not expect that its members would go out on a limb against such a measure, especially since it was sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. That’s why we do not hold faith in bipartisan solutions.”īut Steve Valk, spokesman for the Citizens Climate Lobby, a grassroots advocacy group that favors a carbon tax and that helped bring together the caucus, noted the non-binding resolution has no real effect. “The climate is changing far more quickly than Republican attitudes. The caucus has no credibility, and no ability to do anything,” Miller said. “It would be a joke were the subject not so serious. RL Miller, president of the advocacy group Climate Hawks Vote, said the caucus’ credibility is in tatters after its GOP members, whom she has frequently criticized for their weak environmental voting records, failed to hold off a resolution that strikes at the heart of their purported purpose. The House vote showed the flimsiness of the Climate Solutions Caucus, the bipartisan coalition that Curbelo and others have sought to build behind the concept of a market-based solution for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. 2 Views on How Climate Solutions Caucus Voted ![]() The Treasury Department announced it would scrap requirements that certain tax-exempt nonprofits disclose their donors, helping to cloak a key avenue for campaign contributions used by the Koch brothers and other wealthy political benefactors. The Environmental Protection Agency’s new administrator, former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, finalized a plan to ease requirements for handling the toxic coal ash from power plants-rules developed by the Obama administration after costly spills in Tennessee and North Carolina. The House’s affirmation of a fossil fuel-friendly agenda comes in a week when President Donald Trump’s administration did the same on multiple fronts. The groups put it this way in their letter to Ryan: “As we approach the 2018 midterm election, American voters need to know whether their elected representatives support the implementation of a new tax on the energy they rely on every single day.” ![]() The American Energy Alliance (AEA), the Heartland Institute, and 18 other conservative advocacy groups had urged House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier this month to bring the resolution to the floor.ĪEA president Thomas Pyle said in an interview with InsideClimate News that the impetus was not the prospect of Curbelo’s bill, but an effort to put members on the record before November. Such resolutions are meant to express the views of the chamber and have no real-world impact, but with a different Congress in place now, carbon tax foes wanted a new vote. The 229-180 vote marked a slight erosion in the GOP wall of opposition to climate action. In 2016, an identical measure passed the House 237-163 with no Republicans opposed. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, who plans to unveil the carbon fee measure next week-joined most Democrats in opposing the resolution. Instead, only six Republicans-four of them caucus members, including Rep. If the bipartisan caucus had held firm, the resolution would have been handily defeated. And it revealed weak resolve for bucking GOP leadership among most of the 43 Republican members of the Climate Solutions Caucus. It was a win for a coalition of groups funded by the petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers and other wealthy, right-wing opponents of climate action. carbon tax as detrimental to the economy, one week before a Republican-sponsored bill to create a carbon fee is set to be introduced. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution denouncing the idea of a U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |