Rep. Carbajal Announces Bill to Fight Climate Change with Emission Fees

A bill introduced three times in the House of Representatives would impose a $15 fee on all fossil fuels extracted in the US, including oil, gas, and coal, in an effort to fight climate change.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend bill, introduced by California Rep.

Salud Carbajal, would also " adjust the price of fuels imported into the United States to reflect their carbon intensity and to ensure American producers do not suffer a competitive disadvantage," according to its website.

Supporters say the fee, which would be paid in monthly " dividends," would create 2.8 million jobs, reduce premature deaths, and bring carbon dioxide generation down to 50% of what it was in 1990, Phys.org reports.

But some climate change advocates say the money collected would instead go to programs that are more directly attacking climate change, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Carbajal's office says the dividends would amount to $800 to $1,000 a year for a typical family of four.

After 10 years, they would increase to $4,200.

Carbajal's bill is supported by 27 Nobel Prize-winning economists, four former chairs of the Federal Reserve, and even the libertarian-minded Cato Institute, according to Phys.org.

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