A Bill to Establish a National Carbon Tax with Dividend
Imposes a $45/ton carbon tax at point of extraction, rising $10/year. 70% of revenue is rebated quarterly to households.
A tax of $45 per metric ton of CO2-equivalent shall be levied at point of extraction or import, increasing $10 annually.
70% of net revenue shall be rebated equally to U.S. households on a quarterly basis.
Imports from countries without an equivalent carbon price shall pay a border adjustment fee.
Administered by the IRS in coordination with the EPA.
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- S. 401 — A Bill to Establish a National Carbon Tax with Dividend
- Funding source
- Tax revenue from extraction-point levy; 70% returned as dividend.
- Timeline
- Effective FY27.
- Realistic — British Columbia (2008) and Canada federal (2019) implemented in 18 months.
- Enforcing agency
- IRS + EPA.
- Yes — IRS administers excise taxes; EPA measures emissions.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- Excise tax non-compliance + CAA citizen-suit overlay.
- Source citation
- Climate Leadership Council, Akerlof & Mankiw et al. (2019), 'Economists' Statement on Carbon Dividends' — clcouncil.org (signed by 28 Nobel laureates).
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 1:15 (75s)
A carbon tax is regressive — energy costs hit low-income households hardest.
The 70% dividend in Sec. 2 is precisely the fix — Citizens' Climate Lobby (2023) modeled equal-per-household rebates and found the bottom 70% of households are *net beneficiaries*. Regressivity is a function of design choice, not the tax itself.