Climate Protection Act of 2013 - Fall

Senate Bill 332, the Climate Protection Act of 2013 (CPA), aims to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon by 80% of 2005 levels by 2050. It will achieve this reduction via a $20 tax per ton of carbon dioxide content across all industry sectors, a carbon equivalency fee on carbon-intensive goods, and an equivalency fee set on imported goods. The tax is expected to raise 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years, or approximately 100 billion dollars a year in revenues. If this law were enacted these revenues would be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and used to offset the negative impacts of the tax in two ways: a monthly residential rebate for American families to mitigate the increased cost of buying goods, and the establishment of a trust fund for industry subsidies to mitigate the increased costs of producing goods. The act also facilitates a transition to a low-carbon economy by increasing funding for renewable energy research and development, weatherization programs, and climate change adaptation and infrastructure resiliency projects. 

This report will analyze the issue of climate change as an imminent global concern, and the role played by the United States as a major contributor of carbon emissions. It will examine the range of environmental, societal and economic ramifications of climate change and then identify sustainable technologies as scientific solutions to this issue, as well as the challenges of these technologies. The second half of the report introduces the Climate Protection Act as a way to reduce U.S. emissions by using a tax while protecting the economy from some of the economic impacts of such a tax. It will provide an overview of the key stipulations of the bill, the legislative and political background, and provide analyses of the rationale behind each of CPA’s mandated programs. Finally, it will offer an original program design and outline the details of the organizational structure, budget and master calendar. 

At the time of writing, this act has not come up for a vote in the Senate. This legislation arrives at a time of marked intransigence between the Democratic Senate and Republican House of Representatives under the Obama Administration. In the fall preceding this bill’s introduction, Republican House leaders pledged not to pass any climate legislation that would raise revenues. However, if enacted, S. 332 would reduce emissions, help the U.S. transition to cleaner fuel sources, and establish the United States as a leader in the global arena of climate change mitigation.  [Note: This report focuses only on the carbon-related sections of S. 332. It will not address the proposed amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act under Title III of the Act.] 

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.