Opinion: Why Utah businesses need Romney’s carbon tax plan
Last month, Sen. Mitt Romney visited several manufacturers across our state — spotlighting many of their clean and innovative technologies in the process. With so much bleak environmental news today, it is worth remembering how successfully our own businesses have managed to both decarbonize and flourish.
What’s especially remarkable is how American businesses achieved their gains while operating at such a disadvantage globally. Because countries like China and India don’t play by the same environmental rules we do, our competitors distort the market with cheap goods that crowd out environmentally cleaner American products — at the expense of our manufacturers and employees.
At the same time this is happening, Washington is constantly changing the rules that businesses face here at home. Look no further than the White House’s new power plant regulations and the immediate plans for lawsuits opposing them. As usual, the biggest losers are the businesses who are forced to choose investments based on wholly unpredictable legal and regulatory maneuvers.
Imagine the even greater impact Utah businesses could have if they were given a level playing field internationally — and clear, transparent rules domestically?
That’s exactly what would happen if the rest of Washington embraces a border adjusted price on carbon like what Romney has called for repeatedly. Replacing D.C.’s regulatory behemoth with a clear market signal is exactly what businesses need to operate with certainty. And charging imports for their pollution at the border would hold bad actors accountable while ensuring that cleaner American businesses are rewarded for doing things better.
It’s long overdue that we prioritize the Utah and American manufacturers that are working the right way, and I hope the rest of Congress follows our senator’s lead in backing carbon pricing.
Bill Rappleye
President of WER Enterprises and a two-term Draper city council member
