The American Power Act – A Climate Bill Oil Companies Can Love

From the FDL News Desk:

The bill claims to maintain a carbon cap, reducing levels 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80% below those levels by 2050. It has a modified cap-and-trade program for some industries, while others pay a phased-in fee. 2/3 of the revenue from these programs go back to consumers, a modified version of the “cap and dividend” approach favored by some Senators. There would be a “price collar” for carbon credits starting out between $12 an $25 dollars and increasing at a prescribed rate tracking with inflation, designed to give predictability to the price for energy producers. There’s also a “strategic reserve” built into that price collar, so if producers are trading the carbon credits for higher than the price collar, they can get what amounts to free credits from the government to lower the total price.

Read more here.