Lew: White House won't propose carbon tax

Jack Lew, the White House nominee for Treasury secretary, says President Obama’s second-term vow to confront climate change will not lead to proposals to tax carbon dioxide emissions.

“The administration has not proposed a carbon tax, nor is it planning to do so,” Lew said in written responses to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on Lew’s nomination Tuesday.

Carbon taxes or fees are generating new interest among climate advocates and some liberal lawmakers, especially amid debates about how to curb the deficit and overhaul the tax code.

Lew’s answer is the latest of several Obama administration pledges not to propose a carbon tax.

“We would never propose a carbon tax, and have no intention of proposing one,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in mid-November.

Lew’s vow on carbon taxes is part of his response to a wide-ranging set of questions from Hatch. The Hill’s On The Money blog has more on that here.

Hatch used his written questions to bash the idea of a carbon tax. He cited Obama’s vow in his second inaugural address to confront climate change, adding, “a carbon tax is one of the options that President Obama could pursue.”

“Given the enormous tax increase that would result from a carbon tax, how would you advise the president to use carbon tax revenues? What would your highest priorities be?” Hatch asked.

Lew declined to get into the idea, offering his one sentence vow and leaving it at that.