Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) unveiled legislation June 10 to force large manufacturers as well as importers and producers of coal, petroleum and other fossil fuels to pay a tax to emit carbon pollution. The American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act would set an initial fee of $45 per ton on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases beginning in 2016, a carbon price that would increase each year by 2 percent. Those are steeper reductions than the 26 percent to 28 percent cut over the same period the Obama administration has pledged toward a global climate accord that is headed for final negotiations at an end-of-year summit in Paris (46 ER 994, 4/3/15).
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