Sheldon Whitehouse introduces a carbon tax

And in his 80th Senate floor speech on climate change, Sheldon Whitehouse introduced a carbon tax.

“For years now, Rhode Island has been on the losing end of the fossil-fuel economy,” said Whitehouse, according to a press release announcing the legislation. “We suffer the effects of climate change caused by carbon pollution – from rising seas that damage property to warming waters that affect our fishing industry.  Meanwhile, the big polluters get to offload the cost of that harm without having to pay a dime.  Today I’m introducing legislation to put the costs of carbon pollution back on the shoulders of the polluters where it belongs, while also creating an even playing field for Rhode Island clean energy businesses to compete and generating much-needed revenue to benefit families in Rhode Island and across the nation.”

Coal, oil, and natural gas, no matter where it comes from, will pay $42 per ton of carbon pollution it creates. The fee is expected to raise $2 trillion in 10 years, according to the press release.

The American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act is co-sponsored by Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii.

Here’s more from the New york Times.