Kate Yoder at Grist writes—It’s Friday, January 25, and a zombie carbon tax is back in Congress:
The politics of taxing carbon is trickier than ever, but that didn’t stop a group of lawmakers from reviving a carbon tax bill like a zombie from the grave.
The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act was brought to life again on Thursday in the House of Representatives by the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. Originally introduced in November and later in the Senate, it marked the first bipartisan climate bill entertained by Congress in a decade — not that it went anywhere at the time.
The proposal would charge a $15-per-ton fee on coal, gas, and oil, then rising $10 every year. It’s revenue-neutral, meaning that all the money collected would be returned to Americans in the form of a check. If passed by Congress, the bill could have a dramatic effect on greenhouse gas emissions. But boy, that’s a big if.
No carbon tax yet exists in the United States (but it has a cousin up in Canada). The last attempt in Washington state died at the voting booth in November. Still, there’s reason for optimism. Unlike last year, the House is now blue — the stereotypical color of climate action, besides green obviously.
Next steps for the bill? Push for a vote in the House and resuscitate the Senate’s version. You know what zombies say: If at first you don’t succeed, rise, rise again.
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On this date at Daily Kos in 2011—Texas governor declares fast-track emergency for abortion restrictions:
Remember how Texas is having such a huge budget crisis that the Legislature has been forced to slash funding for one of its favorite pet projects, crisis pregnancy centers?
Well, apparently, the budget crisis is over because Gov. Rick Perry is insisting that the Legislature focus its attention on the most important issue ever:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has suggested to pro life activists that a bill in the Texas Legislature requiring women seeking abortions to have a sonogram taken of their fetus will be placed on the emergency fast track for passage.
That's right — passing even greater restrictions on women's access to reproductive health care is an emergency in Texas, budget be damned. Not to mention that this legislation, if it passes, will inevitably lead to litigation, as it has in pretty much every other state where similar laws have been enacted. Nothing like a costly lawsuit to really help out with the state's budget crisis, huh, Governor?
This is the same Gov. Perry who, less than two years ago, declared that Texas might have to secede from the union because "the federal government has become oppressive. I believe it’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state."
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