[A]ctivists on either side of the carbon tax debate were making a ruckus at the Statehouse well in advance of such legislation actually being introduced this session.
Now two carbon tax bills have arrived, both sponsored by Progressive House members, but the body’s Democratic leadership seems intent on doing nothing with them, at least during this session.
“Basically we’re well past any time to give them a serious look,” House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said Wednesday after the bills were officially introduced.
“They’re brand new,” she added. “I mean they’re just getting introduced — and we have six legislative days left to crossover.”
Carbon taxes have gained traction, and pushback, internationally as a way to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental advocates and some lawmakers have pointed to Vermont’s rising greenhouse gas emissions in recent years as evidence that the state’s efforts to combat climate change are inadequate.
The bulk of the Vermont’s emissions come from the transportation and heating sectors. Last week, leaders in the state’s sustainable business community issued a call for a carbon tax to bring those emissions down.
Rep. Diana Gonzalez, P-Winooski, introduced a bill, H.477, that proposes a a fee on fossil fuels that would be reinvested in public transportation and weatherization and returned as tax credits for low income and rural Vermonters. The fee would go from $5 to $50 per ton of carbon, or up to 44 cents on a gallon of gasoline, according to a JFO analysis for a previous carbon tax proposal.
A recent study from a Joint Fiscal Office consultant shows that the proceeds need to be reinvested in emissions-reducing measures to “have an impact,” she said, adding that her proposal could generate $1.6 billion in 10 years. Gonzalez said health and infrastructure impacts from climate change will prove costlier in the long run than making investments now to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re already paying for it, we’re just paying for it on the back end,” she said.
Rep. Selene Colburn, P-Burlington, adopted a different carbon pricing tack by reintroducing the ESSEX Plan, which proposes to put a price on fossil fuels that would be refunded on electricity bills. The price in her bill, H.463, would go from $5 per ton of carbon up to $40 a ton.
Neither Johnson nor Senate leader Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, have expressed interest in passing a carbon tax this session. Johnson said her concerns with a carbon tax are over affordability and “creating a further divide between urban and rural Vermont.”
Johnson said the focus of climate change policy in the House this session will instead be on promoting electric vehicles, improving public transportation and building weatherization, she said. She added that there will also be a comprehensive “climate change package” next year.
“And some of that may get across the finish line this year and some of it may carry forward into year two of the biennium,” she said.
Rep. Curt McCormack, D-Burlington, chair of House Transportation, did not express interest in taking up a carbon tax either, but echoed Johnson’s priorities of electric vehicles and public transportation, along with expanding biking and walking.
Although McCormack hasn’t brought this before his committee yet, he would like to ask VTrans to conduct a “formal study” into improving public transit in rural areas.
He added that he supports the administration’s proposal last session to use some of the VW settlement money to fund an electric bus pilot.
“I worry all we’re going to do is electrify the present system,” he said, referring to the push for single-occupancy electric vehicles.
McCormack’s committee did vote favorably on Wednesday on a recommendation to House Appropriations that the governor’s proposed $1.5 million for electric vehicle incentives for low- and moderate-income Vermonters gets bumped up to $4.5 million.
“I think a lot of what the administration is proposing to do for climate change is very good, but it’s not enough,” he said.
The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee has had time for little else so far this session besides an overhaul of Act 250. Committee Chair Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, said her committee was hearing testimony this week on incorporating climate change into Act 250 criteria, both in terms of reducing emissions and reconsidering development in river corridors prone to flooding.
Sheldon is a co-sponsor on a bill, H.462, that would codify Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions goals into mandates and allow people to sue the state if benchmarks are not met.
Rep. Timothy Briglin, D-Thetford, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Technology, said his committee has been focused on broadband issues so far but will be likely be taking up bills related to climate change and after crossover.
Gonzalez acknowledged that legislative leadership was not eager to pass a carbon tax bill this session, but said that she wants to have bold climate change legislation ready to go because “things change unexpectedly” in the political realm.
“Sometimes I think about all of the gun bills that happened last year and the fact that there had been work for four years leading up to the change in willingness by our leaders to take action on gun laws,” Gonzalez said.
“Climate change is one of those (things) that we need to be ready for when action is available to folks that need to be taking action,” she added.
