Letter: Carbon tax could make up shortfall of GOP tax plan

In a recent guest opinion, Congressman Newhouse tried to explain in layman’s terms the tax reform bill he voted on. The lower tax rate, the higher standard deduction, the increased child tax credit are all good news for thousands of struggling middle class families like mine. More cash in the economy will give it a boost and create jobs, undoubtedly.

But one is left wondering how Uncle Sam will make up for the lower tax we will all be paying. The prospect of increasing the trillion dollar deficit is daunting, and we should not leave this burden to our children’s generation!

But there is another way to give back to households without growing national debt: put a price on carbon and make the fossil fuel industry pay for the cost of burning fossil fuels. The price tag for longer-lasting wildfire and hurricane seasons is skyrocketing, and it is currently being paid out of our tax dollars, contributing to the deficit. Instead, if we made the polluters pay for this social cost of carbon and return the collected money to all households, it would stimulate the economy the same way the GOP tax cuts, but without increasing the federal deficit.

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Letter: Carbon tax could make up shortfall of GOP tax plan."