Jim Rubens on Energy & Oil

Supports revenue neutral carbon tax

A: I support a revenue neutral carbon tax, with proceeds used to reduce payroll and corporate tax rates to stimulate domestic jobs and capital investment. I support phase out of all energy subsidies so that the market can determine preferred energy sources. I support use of the savings from energy subsidy phase-outs to increase federal funding for pre-commercial energy R&D and for low-income household energy efficiency programs.

Revenue-neutral carbon tax offset by other tax cuts

• Phase out the current thicket of federal energy subsidies for oil, coal, gas, nuclear, ethanol, wind, and solar.
• Terminate EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act.
• Phase in a producer tax on carbon-based fuels.
• Every nickel from the carbon tax is used to reduce payroll taxes and the effective corporate tax rate, making the carbon tax revenue neutral.
• A carbon tax would be extremely simple, imposed on no more than about 2,000 taxpaying entities at the mine mouth, wellhead, and point of importation.

  A starter carbon tax at $15 per ton equating to about 15 cents per gallon for gasoline would raise about $80 billion per year.