Democrats Seek $500 Billion in Climate Damages From Big Polluting Companies
Source: New York Times
Democrats Seek $500 Billion in Climate Damages From Big Polluting Companies
Under a draft plan Democrats are circulating, the Treasury Department would tax a handful of the biggest emitters of planet-warming pollution to pay for climate change.
By Lisa Friedman
Aug. 4, 2021
Updated 7:18 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress want to tax Exxon, Chevron and a handful of other major oil and gas companies, saying the biggest climate polluters should pay for the floods, wildfires and other disasters that scientists have linked to the burning of fossil fuels.
The draft legislation from Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland directs the Treasury Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to identify the companies that released the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from 2000 to 2019 and assess a fee based on the amounts they emitted.
That could generate an estimated $500 billion over the next decade, according to Mr. Van Hollen. The money would pay for clean energy research and development as well as help communities face the flooding, fires and other disasters that scientists say are growing more destructive and frequent because of a warming planet.
The bill for the largest polluters could be as much as $6 billion annually spread over 10 years, according to a draft of the plan.
“It’s based on a simple but powerful idea that polluters should pay to help clean up the mess they caused, and that those who polluted the most should pay the most,” Mr. Van Hollen said in an interview. “Those who have profited the most should help now pay the damages that they’ve already cause.”
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/climate/tax-polluting-companies-climate.html
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