Carbon Tax: Conservative Group Drops Proposed Legal Shield For Big Oil

"The Climate Leadership Council is not your typical group of greens in favor of a carbon tax. It counts BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC among its members, along with a healthy roster of prominent economists, elder Republican statesmen and other blue-chip corporations.

When the council unveiled its plan for a revenue-neutral carbon tax with a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal in 2017, it provoked a range of emotions among climate advocates. Some took it as a sign that bipartisan climate legislation was possible. Others saw a Trojan horse.

Similar responses spilled in this week when the group announced it had updated its plan. Absent in its updated plan was a proposed legal shield for oil companies and other corporate emitters, protecting them from legal challenges related to their historical emissions. CLC had argued companies should not be held liable for their past emissions, but it emerged as a major point of contention with climate advocates."

Benjamin Storrow reports for ClimateWire September 12, 2019.

Source: ClimateWire, 09/13/2019