SENATE VOTES AGAINST CARBON TAX, FOR GHG REG AUTHORITY

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
3/29/13

Senators indicated late last week that they are overall not supportive of a carbon tax but lean in favor of the Obama Administration maintaining its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The upper chamber voted on dozens of amendments to a non-binding Fiscal Year 2014 budget resolution brought forward by Senate Democrats during a marathon 13 hours of votes on March 22 and 23. Given that Senate budget rules allow for an unlimited number of amendments to be proposed that only need a simple majority to pass, many lawmakers took the opportunity to force colleagues to vote on politically controversial issues that otherwise would not have been brought to the Senate floor.

While the Democrat-controlled chamber did not vote on the vast majority of the more than 500 amendments that were filed to the budget blueprint—which ultimately passed 50-49—it did consider measures related to a carbon tax. The Senate struck down an amendment from Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) 41-58 that would have stipulated that revenue from a potential carbon tax go toward a deficit-neutral reserve fund related to “ensuring that all revenue from a fee on carbon pollution is returned to the American people.” However, a measure from Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) that would have made a point of order against any future legislation that would price carbon was also defeated, seven votes short of passage, 53-46 (that specific measure required 60 votes to pass).

Senate Votes Against Ban on GHG Regs

Despite a majority of senators voting against the prospect of a carbon tax, which is currently being proposed by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the upper chamber appeared slightly in favor of maintaining the Obama Administration’s executive authority to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Senate voted down an amendment from Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) 47-52 aimed at barring greenhouse gas regulations for the purpose of addressing climate change. The body also defeated a measure from Dan Coats (R-Ind.) 46-53 to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund for electricity generating units that need extra time to install major emissions control equipment beyond what is available under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard.

While lawmakers were only voting on amendments to a non-binding measure that is not likely to see reconciliation with the budget measure recently passed by the House, the votes are significant mainly in their symbolism. Especially for the Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans on the issue of a carbon tax, the outcomes of those amendment votes reinforce the fact that Congress will not be much help to the President as he seeks to move forward on his State of the Union pledge to combat climate change. They also further indicate that the President will likely have to move forward on the path of executive action if he wants to achieve significant emissions reductions.

No Vote on CCUS Measure

The Senate notably did not consider an amendment sponsored by Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) that would have established a deficit-neutral reserve fund for commercializing carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies. It also did not vote on a rider from Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) that would have provided “additional resources” to unconventional fossil energy technologies programs funded by the Department of Energy and one from David Vitter (R-La.) that would have prohibited the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions until China, India and Russia enact similar limits. The body did, however, agree to an amendment from Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to increase the budget for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program by $50 million over 10 years by offsetting from existing reserve funds and budget allowances.