Two Democratic senators will unveil a bill on Thursday to curb climate change by slapping a fee on oil, natural gas and coal and delivering most of the revenue to low- and middle-income Americans, one of the lawmakers said.
Sen. Chris Coons said on Wednesday he and Sen. Dianne Feinstein will introduce the Climate Action Rebate Act, which aims to generate $2.5 trillion in revenues over 10 years starting in 2020. It would rebate about 70 percent of the money to families that make less than $130,000 per year, and use the rest for energy infrastructure, job retraining for fossil fuel workers, and research and development.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, rejects climate science and has slashed regulations on oil and gas drillers and coal miners. That has made climate a big issue in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, although none of the senators running have yet signed onto the Coons carbon tax bill.