Title
A Resolution of the City Commission urging the United States Congress to enact the Clean Competition Act, S. 4355.
(Sponsored by Commissioner Anderson)
Body
On June 7, 2022, the Clean Competition Act (S. 4355) was introduced by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and others to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create a carbon border adjustment based on carbon intensity. The Clean Competition Act would impose a carbon border adjustment on energy intensive imports, while incentivizing decarbonization of domestic manufacturing. Starting in 2024, the adjustment would apply to energy intensive industries such as fossil fuels, refined petroleum products, iron and steel, aluminum, glass, and ethanol, and would later be expanded to include additional goods and products.
American manufacturers are on average less carbon intensive than most of their foreign competitors, for example, the U.S. economy is almost 50 percent less carbon intensive than its trading partners, whereas the Chinese economy is more than three times as carbon intensive as the U.S., and India is almost four times as carbon intensive. A foundational premise of the Clean Competition Act, is that U.S. climate policy should reward more efficient U.S. manufacturers and penalize high carbon polluting imports as nearly every U.S. sector enjoys a carbon advantage over most key trading partners.
In addition to being sound economic policy designed to give American companies a leg up in the global marketplace, a carbon border adjustment would help address climate change and lower carbon emissions worldwide. According to conservative estimates, the world's climate scientists state that to achieve climate stabilization and avoid cataclysmic climate change, emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be brought to 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050.
For imports manufactured in opaque economies, the levy would be calculated based on the ratio of the country of origin’s economy-wide carbon intensity to the ...
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