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Should Climate Bill Revenues Go For Consumer Aid?

In separate pronouncements on bipartisan climate change legislation set for floor debate next month, two Senate Republicans have raised questions about the legislation's emission allowance allocation scheme, saying consumers should get a bigger share of no-cost allowances and allowance auction revenues to reduce the economic impacts of a greenhouse gas emissions cap.

The statements by Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) are notable in that both say that the proposed cap on emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases will have the effect of imposing a new "tax" on consumers.

Rather than distributing a portion of the allowances and auction revenues to existing federal programs or to entities that won't have to reduce emissions, Gregg and Corker said, the bill should direct more of these revenues directly to consumers to reduce the impacts of the new "tax" and to offset higher energy prices.