An effort to put a tax on carbon dioxide emissions just won an unlikely underwriter: a top producer of oil and gas.
Exxon Mobil Corp. is putting $1 million into a political campaign that, if successful, would effectively spawn a tax tied to the company’s core products.
The move is consistent with Exxon’s long-standing support for a price on carbon dioxide, imposed instead of an array of environmental regulations that already elevate the cost of fossil fuels. But it marks the first such contribution by a major oil company to the effort, known as Americans for Carbon Dividends.
With Exxon’s donation, the biggest U.S. oil company is joining the nation’s largest nuclear power generator and major renewable energy boosters in bankrolling the political campaign to put a tax on emissions, with revenue the levy raises redistributed to U.S. households.
“This is the first time a U.S. oil and gas super major is putting real money behind a carbon pricing effort; it’s just never been done before,” said Ted Halstead, CEO of the Climate Leadership Council, which developed the underlying plan. “A million-dollar gift is not small money for this type of thing.”