By CHRIS ELMORE
Hamilton County Young Republicans Chair
Guest Columnist
For many in my generation, the emerging energy crisis has cast doubt on the preferred climate strategies of the environmental left: Constriction and restriction to deliver emissions reductions. It’s clearer than ever that going forward solutions must promote energy independence and strengthen our domestic industries.
As a conservative and conservationist, I too am an ardent believer in U.S. leadership on climate but have become even more resolute in advocating for solutions that secure our economy, promote our home-grown industries, and clean up harmful pollution.
The Republican-led Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan uniquely fits that bill. Born of market and limited government principles, this proposal would address both the international and domestic dimensions of climate and energy – and boost American production along the way.
Domestically, it would use market-prices to unleash innovation and investment, sweep away regulations, and support American families.
Internationally, it would hold foreign polluters accountable for their pollution by charging them fees at the border. Since U.S. manufacturing is already much cleaner and more efficient than foreign producers, the “border carbon adjustment” fees would boost domestic production.1
This would eliminate the free pass foreign nations get for their lower environmental standards, whether it’s China or Putin’s Russia, whose manufacturing production is four times dirtier and more carbon-intensive than America’s. It’s a policy that, as one Russian oil tsar fears2, could damage Russia more than sanctions alone.
For these benefits, Republican leaders across the state formed Hoosiers for Carbon Dividends3 last year to push this conservative proposal for climate and energy. This year, the momentum for action built when State Senator Rick Niemeyer, who hails from steel-manufacturing-dense Northwest Indiana, introduced a resolution4 at the Statehouse urging his federal counterparts to support this approach.
In Indiana, we’re blessed to have strong Republican Congressional leadership on these topics – from Senators Mike Braun and Todd Young to Congressman Jim Baird. With a smart solution like Baker-Shultz, the GOP could knuckle down on both challenges, beat back the restrictive strategies of the left, and secure prosperity and a clean environment for decades to come.
Chris Elmore is the 2021-2022 chairman of the Hamilton County Young Republicans and a student at Purdue University.
- carbonadvantage.us
- washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/02/republicans-are-embracing-carbon-border-fees-counter-putin
- hoosiercarbondividends.org
- trackbill.com/bill/indiana-senate-resolution-11-urging-the-indiana-federal-congressional-delegation-to-support-the-baker-shultz-carbon-dividends-plan/2219769