Earth Equity News

Californian Rep Pete Stark Introduces Carbon Tax Bill. Alameda Sun, January 22, 2009. "Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means with jurisdiction over tax policy, has introduced the Save Our Climate Act. This legislation would impose a tax on carbon-based fossil fuels. 'We must act now to combat climate change, and a carbon tax is the best and most sensible solution to address this global threat,' said Stark. The Save Our Climate Act imposes an initial tax of $10 per ton of carbon content on fossil fuels when they are initially removed from the ground or imported into the United States, resulting in approximately 2 cents per gallon increase. The tax will increase by $10 each year, freezing when a mandated Department of Energy report determines that carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by 80 percent from 1990 levels." [Editor's note: CCC favors a carbon tax over the cap and trade model. As other carbon tax bills are introduced this year, we will compare their various points.]