A BILL

To generate revenue and encourage less environmentally-damaging methods of consumption.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Section I. TITLE

(a) Title.—This Act may be cited as the “Green Revenue and Ending Environmental Neglect Tax Act”

(b) Short Title.—This Act may be cited in brief as the “GREEN Tax Act”

Section II. FINDINGS

Congress finds that—

(a) The COVID-19 pandemic was a national catastrophe that led to the loss of many lives and a further loss of parts of the economy.

(b) In order to recover from an economic crisis, more revenue is needed for the federal government.

(c) Plastic taxes work, as corroborated by the European Union’s version as well as a University of Chicago study.

(d) Plastic is doing immeasurable damage to our environment that will affect our agriculture, fishing, and air for centuries to come according to an EU study.

(e) In a UN Climate Report for policy makers, it was concluded that even if we reach net-zero carbon emissions worldwide by 2030, it might not be enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees celsius, an amount that would have catastrophic effects worldwide.

(f) According to the EPA, industrial greenhouse gas emissions make up 22% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, of which plastics manufacturing is a significant portion.

(g) Climate Change is a global crisis which can only be addressed with global pressure from the United States.

(h) Carbon taxes only affect industry within the United States, while tariffs can exert pressure on industry outside the United States.

(i) Making development impossible for developing and least-developed countries would only be counter-productive to the ultimate goal of a consistent global climate.

Section III. DEFINITIONS

In this Act:

(1) AGENCY.—The term “Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency.

(2) BUREAU.—The term “Bureau” means the Internal Revenue Service.

(3) SECRETARY.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce.

(4) PLASTICS.—The term “Plastics” means any partly synthetic material which contains polymer or a common polymer-substitute as a primary component.

(5) INDUSTRIAL.—The term “Industrial” means relating to a commercial manufacturing process in which a product is produced on a large scale.

(6) COMMERCIAL IMPORTS.—The term “Commercial Imports” means any goods brought into a country from abroad for the purposes of resale or to serve as a component in an industrial manufacturing process.

(7) FOSSIL FUEL.—The term “Fossil Fuel” means an energy source formed in the Earth's crust from decayed organic material, such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas.

(i) This definition shall update alongside the US Energy Information Administration.

(8) CARBON UNIT.—The term “Carbon Unit” means the pounds of CO2 emitted per million BTUs of energy for the fuel in question.

(i) The specific values of this calculation shall be equivalent to those performed by the US Energy Information Administration’s calculations.

Section IV. PLASTICS TAX

(a) A tax shall be levied on the industrial production of plastics.

(i) This tax shall be at a rate of $2.00/kilogram.

(1) This value shall be raised no later than on March 31st biannually by the Agency in order to at minimum maintain pace with inflation and at maximum be raised by 20% in order to ensure net-zero emissions goals are met.

(ii) The Bureau, in conjunction with the Secretary, shall be responsible for detailing the total revenue generated from the industrial plastics tax.

(iii) The Secretary shall provide statistics to the Agency to provide accurate statistics on the effectiveness of the industrial plastics tax.

(iv) This Tax shall not be levied towards the production of any plastic which is entirely used to produce:

• (1) Medical equipment or pharmaceuticals;

• (2) Packaging for any food sold in the United States, excluding water; or

• (3) Electric automobiles.**

(b) A further tax of 10c per item shall be levied on the distribution of single-use plastic products, including but not limited to:

(i) Grocery bags;

(ii) Eating utensils;

(iii) Water bottles;

(iv) Plates;

(v) Cups.

(c) It shall be the official position of this body that states should outlaw the unnecessary usage of single-use plastic products.

Section V. CARBON TARIFF

(a) A tariff shall be placed on all commercial imports with the following specifications:

(i) The tariff shall be equivalent to $4.00/kilogram of plastics in the commercial imports;

(ii) The tariff shall only be levied on imports greater than $20,000 in value;

(b) A further tariff shall be placed upon all commercial imports of fossil fuels of $10 per tonne per carbon unit.

(c) The following countries, recognized as developing countries, shall have all tariffs reduced by 50%:

(i) Bolivia

(ii) Botswana

(iii) Cabo Verde

(iv) Cameroon

(v) Dominica

(vi) Dominican Republic

(vii) Ecuador

(viii) Egypt

(ix) El Salvador

(x) Eswatini

(xi) Fiji

(xii) Gabón

(xiii) Grenada

(xiv) Guatemala

(xv) Guyana

(xvi) Jamaica

(xvii) Jordan

(xviii) Maldives

(xix) Mauritius

(xx) Mongolia

(xxi) Morocco

(xxii) Namibia

(xxiii) Papua New Guinea

(xxiv) Paraguay

(xxv) Peru

(xxvi) Philippines

(xxvii) St. Lucia

(xxviii) St. Vincent & Grenadines

(xxix) Samoa

(xxx) Sri Lanka

(xxxi) Suriname

(xxxii) Tajikistan

(xxxviii) Tonga

(xxxiv) Tunisia

(d) The following countries, recognized as least-developed countries, shall have all the tariffs waived:

(i) Afghanistan

(ii) Angola

(iii) Bangladesh

(iv) Benin

(iv) Bolivia

(v) Burkina Faso

(vi) Burundi

(vii) Cambodia

(viii) Central African Republic

(ix) Chad

(x) Côte d'Ivoire

(x) Cuba

(xi) Democratic Republic of the Congo

(xii) Djibouti

(xiii) Gambia

(xiv) Ghana

(xv) Guinea

(xvi) Guinea-Bissau

(xvii) Haiti

(xviii) Honduras

(xix) Kenya

(xx) Lao People's Democratic Republic

(xxi) Lesotho

(xxii) Liberia

(xxiii) Madagascar

(xxiv) Malawi

(xxv) Mali

(xxvi) Mauritania

(xxvii) Mozambique

(xxviii) Myanmar

(xxix) Nepal

(xxx) Nicaragua

(xxxi) Niger

(xxxii) Nigeria

(xxxiii) Pakistan

(xxxiv) Rwanda

(xxxv) Senegal

(xxxvi) Sierra Leone

(xxxvii) Solomon Islands

(xxxviii) Tanzania

(xxxix) Togo

(xl) Uganda

(xli) Vanuatu

(xlii) Yemen

(xliii) Zambia

(xliv) Zimbabwe

(xliv) Venezuela

(e) The lists in subsections (c) and (d) shall be updated yearly by the The Office of the United States Trade Representative.

(f) Any country which passes a tax on both fossil fuels and plastics equivalent to at least 90% of the tax present in the United States shall have the tariff similarly waived.

Written by /u/Parado-I (G), Sponsored by /u/KingSw1fty (G-CH-3)