Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Don Horsley, President of the Board
Supervisor Dave Pine, District 1
Subject: Revenue-Neutral Tax on Carbon-Based Fossil Fuels
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution urging the United States Congress to enact a revenue-neutral tax on carbon-based fossil fuels. The request stipulates the tax rate should start low and increase steadily and predictably with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; that all tax revenue should be distributed to the general population to protect middle to low-income earners from the impact of rising prices due to the tax; that the tax be collected once, as far upstream in the economy as practical, or at the port of entry into the United States; and that the international competitiveness of United States businesses should be protected by using carbon-content-based tariffs and tax refunds.
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BACKGROUND:
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are causing rising global temperatures. The average surface temperature on Earth has been increasing steadily, with the sixteen hottest years ever recorded all occurring since 1998. The hottest of all years to date was 2016. In April 2017, the global atmospheric concentration of CO2 reached 410 parts per million, a level higher than has occurred in the past 3 million years. By 2100, the projected average global temperature will be 2 degrees Fahrenheit to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the current average global temperature, depending on the level of GHG trapped in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, the increasing release of carbon dioxide exacerbates global warming, and threatens the very conditions which sustain human survival on the planet. In order to achieve climate stabilization and avoid catac...
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