{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/sens-whitehouse-and-schatz-introduce-carbon-fee-legislation", "Sens. Whitehouse and Schatz Introduce Carbon Fee Legislation", "2014-11-19", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.19.14\n\t\t\t Sens. Whitehouse and Schatz Introduce Carbon Fee Legislation \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 As President Obama and Senate Democrats continue to make clear that they are not backing off in the fight against climate change following the election, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today unveiled legislation that would reduce carbon pollution and generate as much as $2 trillion dollar over ten years \u2013 all of which would be returned to the American people.\u00a0 Whitehouse\u2019s American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act, which is cosponsored by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), would correct a market failure that currently allows polluters to push the costs of their pollution onto everyone else.\r\n\u201cRight now we are subsidizing big polluters to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually by allowing them to pollute for free,\u201d said Whitehouse.\u00a0 \u201cWe all pay the costs of this subsidy through higher health costs, property damage from rising seas, warming waters that affect our fishing industry, and more.\u00a0 This legislation will put the costs of carbon pollution back on the polluters, and in doing so, will generate significant revenue \u2013 all of which will be returned to the American people.\u201d\r\n\u201cWith this bill we can take control of our economic future.\u00a0 This is one of the most straightforward solutions to climate change, and has growing support across the ideological spectrum,\u201d said Schatz.\u00a0 \u201cRepublicans in the Congress are going to take some time to warm up to this proposal, but I am confident that they will listen to their consciences and their constituents, and join us on the right side of history.\u201d\r\nThe American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act would require polluters to pay a fee for every ton of carbon pollution they emit.\u00a0 The fee would start at $42 per ton in 2015 and increase annually by an inflation-adjusted 2 percent.\u00a0 The price of the fee follows the Obama Administration\u2019s central estimate of the \u201csocial cost of carbon,\u201d the value of the harms caused by carbon pollution including falling agricultural productivity, human health hazards, and property damages from flooding.\r\nThe fee would be assessed on all coal, oil, and natural gas produced in or imported to the U.S. and cover large emitters of non-carbon greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide from non-fossil-fuel sources.\u00a0 The U.S. Department of Treasury would assess and collect the fee, working with the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Information Administration to ensure the best research methods and data are used.\r\nA study from Resources for the Future, a non-partisan think tank, estimates that a carbon fee tracking the social cost of carbon would reduce carbon pollution by about 50% within a decade from the electricity sector alone compared to business-as-usual. The electricity sector is the largest source of carbon pollution, emitting about 40% of annual emissions.\r\nAll revenue generated by the carbon pollution fee \u2013 which could exceed $2 trillion over ten years \u2013 would be credited to an American Opportunity Fund to be returned to the American people.\u00a0 Possible uses include:\r\n \r\nEconomic assistance to low-income families and those residing in areas with high energy costs\r\nTax cuts\r\nSocial security benefit increases\r\nTuition assistance and student debt relief\r\nInfrastructure investments\r\nDividends to individuals and families\r\nTransition assistance to workers and businesses in energy-intensive and fossil-fuel industries\r\nClimate mitigation or adaptation\r\nReducing the national debt\r\n \r\nSenator Whitehouse spoke at length about this legislation on the Senate floor in introducing it.\u00a0 Video of his remarks can be seen here, and text is available here.\u00a0\r\nTo download a copy of the bill, click here.\r\n\u00a0###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/sens-whitehouse-and-schatz-introduce-carbon-fee-legislation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.494808752089739, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}