EXCLUSIVE: Dozens Of Energy Orgs Ask Congress To Kill Bill They Say Would ‘Inevitably’ Lead To Carbon Taxes

Dozens of ⚡Energy policy and advocacy groups signed a Monday letter to Congress to express their opposition to a bill they say could be the first step toward carbon taxes or tariffs.

The letter urges House lawmakers to vote against the PROVE IT Act, a bill that has not yet been introduced in the lower chamber but is expected to be soon. The PROVE IT Act — which has already been introduced in the Senate — would have the Department of ⚡Energy (DOE) study the carbon intensity of goods, including aluminum, steel, plastic and crude oil, produced in the U.S. and the carbon intensity of products from other countries, according to E&E News.

The bill’s proponents typically describe it as a way to reward American companies for producing goods more cleanly than other countries who pay less heed to the environment. Its opponents — including the organizations that signed on to the Monday letter — consider the bill to be a potential stepping stone to carbon tariffs and domestic carbon taxes in part because it effectively instructs the government to set a price of carbon with potentially inadequate restrictions placed on what the government can do with that metric in the future.