Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced the reintroduction of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA), bold legislation that would utilize market forces to combat climate change and incentivize the speedy transition to a clean energy economy. The bill earned 86 bipartisan co-sponsors in the previous Congress, and Rep. Phillips is an original co-sponsor.

The bill creates a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund for the American people to encourage innovation, clean energy technologies, and market efficiencies that will reduce pollution and leave behind a healthier and more prosperous nation for future generations. It includes carbon fee exemptions for fuels used by the armed forces and agriculture, and it provides rebates to facilities that capture and sequester carbon.

The bill would decrease U.S. carbon emissions by 40% in the first twelve years and is revenue neutral, returning every cent raised from carbon fees back to American consumers in the form of monthly dividends. The EICDA positions the United States to meet the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 set by President Biden.

“Climate change isn’t a problem for future generations,” said Rep. Phillips. “It’s here, it’s in our backyard, and we need to find a solution as quickly as possible. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would do just that by tapping into our most renewable resource—American ingenuity. I am heartened to see statements of support for this legislation from across the political spectrum, and I am calling on leadership from both parties to put aside politics and deliver this common-sense proposal to the president’s desk.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act’s market-based approach to combating climate change has received endorsements from Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Trout Unlimited, Business Roundtable, and the American Petroleum Institute.

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