From: Doug Grandt answerthecall@me.

com
Subject: #ExxonKnows carbon taxes will do little to change business-as-usual
Date: October 3, 2018 at 6:50 AM
To: Max Schulz max.schulz@exxonmobil.com, Suzanne M. McCarron Suzanne.M.McCarron@ExxonMobil.com,
William (Bill) M. Colton William.M.Colton@ExxonMobil.com, Jeffrey J. Woodbury jeff.j.woodbury@exxonmobil.com,
Darren W. Woods Darren.W.Woods@ExxonMobil.com

#RetireRefineries . . . #OnePerWeek
#ReplaceRefineriesWithRenewables

The carbon tax fallacy

By Wenonah Hauter
June 25, 2018 at 5:25 PM

Recently, a coalition of business and advocacy groups

from around Washington gathered to kick off a campaign
to enact a carbon pricing program in the capital. Known as
the Climate and Community Reinvestment Act of D.C.,
the plan would place a new tax on all fossil fuels bought or
sold, with the hope of ultimately discouraging the use of
these polluting energy sources.

The big-picture goal of this campaign (and others like it

suddenly sprouting up around the country) is admirable: to
address the ever-deepening crisis of humanity-driven
climate chaos by dissuading the continued use of coal, oil
and gas, the filthy substances rapidly warming our planet.
But unfortunately, the approach — one based in a world of
financial markets, trading schemes and enticing new public
revenue streams — is deeply and inherently flawed.
Simply put, carbon pricing is a false solution to climate
change and a problematic distraction from real, effective
climate solutions we must urgently pursue.

To date, there is scant evidence to indicate that carbon

taxes lower greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the
opposite is true. Recently Food & Water Watch reviewed
the British Columbia carbon tax program, often cited by
advocates as an example of success. We found that taxing
carbon emissions did not reduce pollution; greenhouse gas
emissions actually increased under the plan. From 2009
(the first full year of the tax) to 2014 (the most recent data
available), emissions from taxed sources in British
Columbia grew by 4.3 percent. And in the seven years
after the carbon tax took effect, total gasoline sales
increased by 7.37 percent.

Supporters of such plans like to focus on a deceivingly

simple notion that increasing the price of a consumer good
will automatically reduce its use. But this just isn’t the case
when it comes to the purchase of necessities. People must
heat their homes in winter, and they must commute to
work, regardless of the cost.

Those backing the D.C. carbon pricing plan like to note

that revenue from the new tax would go toward investment
in clean energy sources. But only 20 percent of the
generated funds would be allocated in this manner. The
rest would be divvied up in tax breaks for businesses and
rebates for consumers, another factor undercutting the
notion that increased costs up front would change
consumer behavior in the long run.

Meanwhile, fossil fuel giants such as ExxonMobil are

increasingly coming out in support of carbon pricing.
This should be cause for alarm for anyone concerned
with stamping out the use of the dirty energy sources
these corporations profit from. Exxon knows that
carbon taxes will do little the change the business-as-
usual dependence on oil and gas that it relies on to
continue operating and enriching shareholders.
Furthermore, corporations such as Exxon rightly view
carbon pricing schemes as a means of diverting
energy and interest from tougher regulations that
might actually encroach on their business plans and
bottom lines. (Emphasis addad)

Despite what many well-intentioned activists and

community leaders want to believe, there is no clever,
convenient, market-friendly solution to our dire climate
condition. There is only the hard truth that we must tackle
the problem at its source: We must stop using fossil fuels,
and soon.

The latest science indicates that in order to stave off the

worst effects of deepening climate chaos, society must
transition completely to clean, renewable energy by 2035.
This will require an immense national undertaking, but it is
attainable. And such an endeavor would create countless
well-paid jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable
energy sectors. All it will take to make this vision a reality is
mustering the political will to forge the path.

Thankfully, that political will is steadily growing. In

 Thankfully, that political will is steadily growing. In
Congress, dozens of members now support the Off Fossil
Fuels for a Better Future Act, which would mandate a full
transition to clean energy by 2035. And scores of local,
state and federal candidates currently running for elected
office throughout the country have signed our OFF pledge,
committing to the principles outlined in the OFF Act.

The movement to transition the United States off fossil fuels now is growing rapidly. Flawed, ineffective carbon tax plans
such as one proposed for Washington only serve to distract focus from what’s really needed: quitting fossil fuels for
good.

###

Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch and the author of
“Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/blogs/all-opinions-are-local/wp/2018/06/25/the-carbon-tax-fallacy/?
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