Comparison of 118th Congress Energy Innovation Act (Carbajal) & Market Choice Act (Fitzpatrick)

Has anyone put together a brief comparison of key aspects of the 118th Congress's Energy Innovation Act ( Sponsor - Rep. Carbajal) vs. the Market Choice Act ( Sponsor - Rep Fitzpatrick)? Even a basic tabular comparison would be most helpful, including the level of CCL support for each, knowing that the EIA has been CCL's preferred approach.   I understand there are carbon pricing features in both, but significant differences as well.  As I am a constituent of Brian Fitzpatrick's and a CCL Bucks-Montgomery chapter member, and may have some involvement in future lobby meetings with him or his staff, I would like to make sure that the most relevant, current information on these bills is available. ( Note: I have reviewed the 9/23 CCL presentation on the Energy Innovation Act). Thank you in advance for your assistance. 

 Leslie McGeorge

 

12 Replies

@Leslie McGeorge, I am about halfway through a deep dive into the current MARKET CHOICE Act. I will push to get this done and answer your question ASAP.
 

Wonderful! Thank you sooo much! 
Jeff Green
61 Posts

@Richard Knight
Richard, have you completed your comparison of the two bills (HR 5744 & HR 6665)?  I'm interested in discussing the two bills at our Saturday chapter meeting.

Jeff and Leslie,
Still working on it, and I hope to have a chart for you tomorrow.
Rick

Here is an Excel file that compares the two bills. You can print it out on a single page, but there are some helpful comments attached to many of the cells. I'm not sure if there is a way to print out the comments.

Let me know if you have any trouble accessing the file.

CarbonPricingBills.118th.010824.xlsx

@Jeff Green
 

Jeff Green
61 Posts

Thanks very much for the spreadsheet, Rick!  One thing I found troubling about the bill is this:
 

‘‘(A) REFUND FOR REDUCTION OR ELIMI2

NATION OF EMISSIONS.—Any manufacturer of a  product that incorporates a fossil fuel that has  been taxed under this section who can demonstrate to the Secretary that the fossil fuel has been transformed via the manufacture of the product so that the fossil fuel’s emissions will be reduced or eliminated over the product’s lifetime shall be entitled to a refund of the tax paid under this section on the proportion of the emissions reduced thereby, as determined by the Secretary.

13 ‘‘(B) RULE.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, shall establish by rule the criteria and process by which product manufacturers can demonstrate that the conditions in subparagraph (A) have been satisfied.

I'm concerned that "transformation" of a fossil fuel could be interpreted to allow CCS to result in an exemption.

@Jeff Green, this provision is there so that if a fossil fuel is converted to something that doesn't result in CO2 emissions, the carbon tax will be refunded. I think it's aimed at things like products made from a fossil fuel, such as carbon fiber or a polymer where the carbon remains sequestered. There is a separate exemption for CCS in the following paragraph §9901(e)(2). This is justified by the assumption that as long as the carbon doesn't get emitted to the atmosphere, it shouldn't be taxed. This kind of provision is included in virtually every carbon tax bill, including the Energy Innovation Act, although it might be stated differently.
 

Jeff Green
61 Posts
Thanks, Rick!  This is exactly what I was worried about.  Especially:

‘‘(A) REFUND FOR SEQUESTERS.—Any person who sequesters greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuel that has passed through a point of taxation shall be entitled to a refund of the tax imposed by this section. Emissions that are used for enhanced oil recovery shall be entitled for such refund provided that these emissions meet all of the criteria applicable to other emissions that qualify for such refund.

We should absolutely not be supporting a bill that exempts emissions from enhanced oil recovery under any circumstances!
This should not be surprising in a Republican-sponsored bill, especially since the 45Q tax credits already apply to CO2 that is used for EOR (although at a lower credit amount). In fact, the EICDA is silent on the EOR issue, so conceivably it would also refund carbon fees for CO2 that ends up being used for EOR. However, keep in mind that the oil recovered in an EOR operation would be subject to the carbon fee just like any other oil, while the CO2 would (presumably) remain sequestered in the depleted well, at least for many years.

On top of that, oil companies are going to practice EOR regardless; they will just use CO2 that's extracted from natural sources, so I think it's a wash either way. Better to use CO2 that's been captured from fossil fuel burning than to pump it out of the ground and put it right back. 

@Richard Knight
Thank you for looking into this, Richard! I take it this means that this probably isn't a bill that can be uncomplicatedly endorsed by CCL, in this case?

No decision has been made about supporting or endorsing this bill. We will rely on the Government Affairs department to guide us on this. 
Rick

@Richard Knight
Chart is great! Thx.  I can't say I follow all of the details, but understand the basic differences of the 3 bills.  Possible to add a few sentences or bullets that can share with others on just the key differences between the 3 Carbon pricing bills?  Do you think there could be a possible basis for compromise among these 3?  Thank you very much. 

Forum help

Select a question below

CCL Community's Sitewide Forums are an easy and exciting way to interact with other members on CCL Community.  The Sitewide Forums are focused on subjects and areas of general interest to members.  Each forum consists of topics that members have posted, along with replies from other members. Some forums are divided into categories to group similar topics together. 

Any members can post a topic or reply to a topic.

The Sitewide Forums are open to the entire CCL community to create, comment on, and view online discussions.  Posts and comments should address the subject or focus of the selected forum. 

Note: Categories can only be created by community administrators.

Guidelines for posting: (also see general Community Guidelines)

  • Don’t see your question or topic? Post it.
  • Be thoughtful, considerate (nonpartisan) and complete. The more information you supply, the better the better and more engaging the conversation will be. 
  • Feel like cursing? Please don’t.
  • Ask yourself, “Would my topic post reveal sensitive or confidential information?” If so, please don't post!

Flag/report any offending comments, and then move on. In the rare instance of a comment containing a potentially credible threat, escalate that immediately to CCL.

If the Sitewide Forum has no categories, select the "Add Topic" button at the top of topics window. 

If the forum has categories, when you click on "Add Topic," a dropdown list of the categories appears. Select the desired category and then "Add Topic."
In either case this brings up a box to enter both the topic subject and topic text.

If you have questions or wish to add comments on a posted forum topic, open the post and click the blue “Add Reply” button at top. You can also click on the “Reply” link at the bottom of the original topic posting.

This opens a text box. Add your reply. You can also add documents by dragging a file into the text box. Click “Post” at the bottom of the reply window This will add your reply to other replies (if there are any), sorted by oldest on top. 

If, however, you want to reply directly to someone else’s reply, click on the “Reply” link at the bottom of their reply. 

When replying to a topic post or a topic reply it may be helpful to quote the original text, or the part that your reply is referring to. To quote a topic or reply, click on the "Quote" link at bottom of post. 

When you do this the full text of either the post or reply will be pulled into a reply text box. If desired, you can remove parts of the quoted text in order to get the portion you are interested in quoting.

You can subscribe to notifications of new postings from any of the Sitewide Forums or forum categories. To subscribe, select the green “Subscribe” button at the top of the forum. Click on dropdown arrow to select frequency of notification.

If you are already subscribed, the button will display “Unsubscribe.”  Select it to unsubscribe or select the dropdown arrow to modify frequency of notification. 

Note: If you subscribe to a Sitewide Forum, such as "Media Relations" that has categories (such as "LTEs and Op-Eds"), you will also be subscribed to all the categories. If you wish to subscribe to only one or more of the categories, unsubscribe to the parent forum and subscribe individually to desired categories.

.

If you see a topic post or reply that interests you or that you like, you can click the “Like” icon at the bottom of the topic post or the reply. This lets the poster know that the topic was helpful. It also contributes to the topic’s popularity, which influences where it is listed in the "Popular" forum tab. There are also additional reactions available for members to use. Mouseover the "Like" icon to choose one of these options: Love, Clap, Celebrate, Insightful, or Interesting.

CCL Community Guidelines

  • Discuss, ask and share
  • Be respectful
  • Respect confidentiality
  • Protect privacy

More guidelines
 

CCL Blog Policy Area Categories