CEI leads coalition in opposition to PROVE IT Act
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The Competitive Enterprise Institute today sent a coalition letter to the House of Representatives in opposition to the PROVE IT Act (S. 1836), which would pave the way for a carbon tax. A version of this Senate bill may soon be introduced in the House. Signed by over 40 conservative and free market organizations, the letter makes opposition to the bill very clear.
The PROVE IT Act requires the Department of Energy to collect, analyze, and update data on the carbon intensity of domestic and foreign goods. “Through the creation of this federal administrative framework, Congress would be removing one of the biggest obstacles to the imposition of carbon taxes on both imported and domestically produced goods,” the letter explains.
The legislation would lead to the creation of carbon taxes. PROVE IT Act information would be used to impose new “climate” taxes, the letter explains. In the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), for example, Congress took information collected under the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program and imposed the first-ever federal methane tax.
“Many of the bill supporters expressly admit that the legislation would be used to develop carbon taxes of some kind,” the letter points out. “Once a carbon tax on imported goods is created, the U.S. would inevitably impose a domestic carbon tax,” due to trade law obligations and political pressure.
The House recently passed a bipartisan resolution opposing the harmful effects domestic carbon taxes would impose. The PROVE IT Act would make those harms a reality – massive new taxes, punishing energy use, imposing higher costs on the poor, and embracing Europe’s extreme climate agenda.
“Americans want affordable and reliable energy, not federal tax schemes that treat energy use as a sin,” the letter explains.
