Carbon tax still a bipartisan effort despite conservative opposition

Two Republican congressmen remain committed to a carbon tax that would charge polluters and give the money to taxpayers. 

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act is being sponsored by Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, and co-sponsored by Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, and Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. 

Rooney and Fitzpatrick have been criticized by other conservatives for backing the bill. 

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The bill would charge polluters $15 per metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions, with that fee increasing by $10 each year. 

Money generated from the tax would be given back to taxpayers in the form of a dividend, which would help offset higher energy costs, proponents say. 

But opponents say the bill is toxic to the economy, and that placing a tax on carbon is basically putting a tax on all goods and services.

Conservative think-tank leader Grover Norquist, with Americans for Tax Reform, said a carbon tax would hurt the economy and consumers. 

He's not so sure there's a lot of Republican support for the bill, either. 

"The Democrats want to get a Republican's fingerprints on it to say that this is bipartisan," Norquist said. "This things is poison politically, and no credible conservative free market group supports a carbon tax. But they’ll keep inventing new ones, and they’ll try to sucker some new politicians with it."

He said an energy tax will raise the price of virtually everything. 

"Everything has energy in it, so if you raise taxes on carbon you raise taxes on everything that moves," Norquist said. "You transport it and drive to work, and banks pay salaries. You think some businesses aren’t using energy, but they are." 

Rooney and Fitzpatrick made news last week when Deutch introduced the bill. 

Rooney said in a statement: “To let the free market price out coal we should consider value pricing carbon. A revenue-neutral carbon fee is an efficient, market-driven incentive to move toward natural gas and away from coal, and to support emerging alternate sources of energy.”

Norquist said Rooney and Fitzpatrick are risking their political careers by supporting taxes or fees on carbon. 

But Rooney aides say he is still co-sponsoring the bill.

Fitzpatrick aides confirmed Friday that he is still committed to the bill, as well. 

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Flannery Winchester, with Citizens' Climate Lobby, said the bill actually has a chance of passing and is not just a political statement. 

The Democratic-controlled House of Representative bill does not have a Republican-controlled Senate bill, which it would need to move forward. 

"It’s essentially the legislation that we’ve been lobbying on for about 10 years now," WInchester said. "We’ve seen other climate bills come up and other potential carbon pricing bills, and we never fully got behind something until now. It’s bipartisan and the structure of the bill is very, very strong."

Norquist said environment groups will continue to push a carbon tax, that the idea is not going away. 

"They keep coming back like a teenage boy at the prom date asking the same question," Norquist said. "He thinks he’s asking different questions, but he really wants the same thing."

Connect with this reporter: Chad GillisNP on Twitter.