Amended in Assembly June 13, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 43

Introduced by Assembly begin delete Members Bonilla and Williams end delete begin insert Member Williams end insert

June 6, 2016

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 43—Relative to greenhouse gases.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 43, as amended, begin delete Bonilla end delete   begin insert Williams end insert . Greenhouse gases: climate change.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to enact begin delete federal policies to further the effort to combat climate change. end delete begin insert a tax on carbon-based fossil fuels. end insert

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
has stated in its recently released 5th Assessment Report, Climate
Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, that “[w]arming of the
climate system is unequivocal” and “[i]t is extremely likely that
human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed
warming since the mid-20th century”; and

WHEREAS, In May of 2013, the global atmospheric
concentration of carbon dioxide reached 400 parts per million, the
highest level in the last 800,000 years; and

WHEREAS, In May 2014, two separate scientific papers were
published in journals of Geophysical Research Letters documenting
dramatic retreats of Antarctic glaciers and predicting that
large-scale destruction of the West Antarctic ice sheets is likely
now inevitable and will lead to sea level rises of 10 feet or more;
and

WHEREAS, The 2013 Indicators of Climate Change in
California, released by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, found that continued warming of the atmosphere
would cause threats of flooding along the coastline of California;
threats to infrastructure, sewage systems, wetlands, and marine
life; increased ocean acidification; increased threats from wildfires;
threats to the water supply from decreased snow packs; increased
asthma and respiratory illness due to higher ozone levels; increased
insurance and mitigation costs; and negative impacts to the
agriculture, fishing, and tourism industries; and

WHEREAS, Conservative estimates by climate scientists
throughout the world state that, to achieve climate stabilization
and avoid cataclysmic climate change, emissions of greenhouse
gases must be brought to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050;
and

WHEREAS, The California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the
Health and Safety Code) commits the state to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and the Governor’s
Executive Order S-3-05 further calls on the state to establish a
policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below
1990 levels by 2050; and

WHEREAS, The California Global Warming Solution Act of
2006 has reached its 10-year anniversary and the California
economy remains strong; and

WHEREAS, The United States needs powerful new policies to
meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals established in
the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement; begin delete now, therefore, be it end delete begin insert and end insert

begin insert

WHEREAS, The United States Congress can enact a national
carbon tax on fossil fuels, based on the amount of carbon dioxide
the fuel will emit when burned; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, For efficient administration, fossil fuels can be
taxed once, as far upstream in the economy as practical, or at the
port of entry into the United States; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, A national, revenue-neutral carbon tax starting at
a relatively low rate and increasing steadily over future years is
a market-based solution that would minimally disrupt the economy
while sending a clear and predictable price signal to businesses
to develop and use noncarbon-based energy resources; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Citizens’ Climate Education Corporation
Commissioned Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) to do a
nation-wide macroeconomic study on the impact of a
revenue-neutral carbon tax; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, REMI’s study predicted that, after 10 years, a
revenue-neutral carbon tax would lead to a decrease in carbon
dioxide emissions by 33 percent, an increase in national
employment by 2.1 million jobs, and an average monthly dividend
for a family of four of $288; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Border adjustments, such as carbon-content-based
tariffs on products imported from countries without comparable
carbon pricing and refunds to our exporters of carbon taxes paid
can maintain the competitiveness of United States businesses in
global markets; and

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WHEREAS, A national carbon tax can be implemented quickly
and efficiently, and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis,
because the federal government already has in place mechanisms,
such as the Internal Revenue Service, needed to implement and
enforce the tax and already collects taxes from fossil fuel producers
and importers; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, A national carbon tax would make the United States
a leader in mitigating climate change and the advancing clean
energy technologies of the 21st Century, and would incentivize
other countries to enact similar carbon taxes, thereby reducing
global carbon dioxide emissions without the need for complex
international agreements; now, therefore, be it

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Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature hereby urges the United
States Congress to begin delete enact federal policies that mirror the California
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to further the effort to
combat climate change throughout the United States; end delete begin insert enact, without
delay, a tax on carbon-based fossil fuels; end insert and be it further

begin insert

Resolved, That the tax should be collected once, as far
upstream in the economy as practical, or at the port of entry into
the United States; and, be it further

end insert begin insert

Resolved, That the tax rate should start low and increase
steadily and predictably to achieve the goal of reducing carbon
dioxide emissions in the United States to 80 percent below 1990
levels by 2050; and be it further

end insert begin insert

Resolved, That all tax revenue should be returned to middle-
and low-income Americans to protect them from the impact of
rising prices due to the tax; and, be it further

end insert begin insert

Resolved, That the international competitiveness of United
States businesses should be protected by using
carbon-content-based tariffs and tax refunds; and be it further

end insert

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.