Ben Adler on why Republicans will never back a carbon tax: Republicans, as everyone knows, hate taxes and dont accept, much less care about, climate change. But wonks on both sides of the aisle fantasize that a carbon tax could win bipartisan support as part of a broader tax-reform package. A carbon tax could be revenue neutral, the dreamers point out, and if revenue from the tax is used to cut other taxes, it shouldnt offend Republicans—in theory. And so people who want to bring Republicans into the climate movement like to argue that the GOP could come to embrace a carbon tax. Weve heard it from former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), who lost his seat to a Tea Party primary challenger in 2010 after he proposed a revenue-neutral plan to create a carbon tax and cut payroll taxes. Weve heard it from energy industry bigwigs like Roger Sant, who recently argued the case at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Weve heard it from GOP think tankers like Eli Lehrer. Its the epitome of centrist wishful thinking. It will not happen. I know because I asked the man most responsible for setting Republican tax policy: Grover Norquist. As head of Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist has gotten 218 House Republicans and 39 Senate Republicans to sign his Taxpayer Protection Pledge never to raise taxes. His group has marshaled the Republican bases zealous anti-tax activists and successfully primaried politicians who violate the pledge, making Norquist a much-feared and much-obeyed player in D.C. The Boston Globe Magazine went so far as to call him the most powerful man in America—at least of the unelected variety. First off, Norquist has no interest in a carbon tax because, he told me, there has been no global warming for the last 15 years. That right-wing shibboleth is false, but the point is that if you dont accept climate science, as Norquist and the Republicans dont, youve got no reason to back a carbon tax. -Erika
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 20:00:01 +0000
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