Former Republican representative speaks on climate change proposal at College Republicans event
Former South Carolina representative Robert Inglis spoke to students on Tuesday about a proposal that most other Republicans have not supported — a proposal for a carbon tax of $15 per ton.
“It is supported by actual conservatives,” Inglis said. “But my party is not being controlled by actual conservatives. It’s being controlled by populist nationalists, which are different than conservatives.”
Inglis’ proposal is a $15 tax on every ton of carbon pollution that rises to $100 per ton over the next thirty years while simultaneously reducing personal income taxes, according to Inglis. He said the purpose of his revenue-neutral carbon-tax is to increase a polluter’s cost of production to reflect the costs to the environment, or to internalize the polluter’s negative externalities.
“We’re particularly excited to speak to fellow conservatives because… there is an inferiority complex that among conservatives that we’re no good at energy and climate,” Inglis said. “Actually, we know the answer. The answer is Econ 100.”
Inglis spoke on invitation by the Rice University College Republicans. Thomas Keller, the interim chairman of the RUCR, said that a former RUCR member contacted Inglis to organize the event. Keller said that he found Inglis’s proposal intriguing and better than other carbon tax proposals he’s heard in the past.
“The previous carbon taxes I have seen lacked an upward limit,” Keller said. “If government programs do one thing well, it’s growing voraciously, so creating reasonable limits on such a policy is crucial.”
When Inglis introduced this proposal in the form of the Raise Wages Cut Carbon Act in 2009, he was met with opposition from his Republican constituents, he said. In the subsequent reelection, he said he lost the Republican primary after winning only 29% of the vote.
“Note to self: do not introduce a carbon tax, even though it’s revenue neutral, in the midst of the Great Recession,” Inglis said. "Normally, you don’t lose by getting only 29% of the vote after 12 years in Congress.”
Inglis has since then founded republicEn to engage conservatives in the conversation about climate change as part of the EcoRight movement. The EcoRight, which includes other organizations such as the Alliance for Market Solutions and Clearpath, are attempting to address conservatives through free-market solutions, he said.
“These EcoRight allies of ours are messaging on the right and helping conservatives to hear it in our own language,” Inglis said. “Because climate change is basically a conversation started by the left in the language of the left.”
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice Students for Justice in Palestine declares ‘liberated zone’ on campus
As student protests erupt across the country, Rice Students for Justice in Palestine launched a “liberated zone” on Rice campus, announced a two-day series of events and started construction on an “apartheid wall.”
Jeremy Zucker headlines second-ever Moody X-Fest
Jeremy Zucker headlined Rice’s second annual Moody X-Fest in Founder’s Court on April 19. In advance of Zucker’s set, student groups like Basmati Beats, Rice Philharmonic and BASYK performed. The festival also offered complimentary merchandise and food from Dripped Birra, Cane’s and Oh my Gogi.
Jones wins men’s and women’s Beer Bike races, GSA snags alumni
Jones College won both the women’s and men’s Beer Bike 2024 races, while the Graduate Student Association claimed the alumni team win. Hanszen College bike teams were the runner-up in the alumni and men’s races, while Brown College was the runner-up in the women’s race. Martel and McMurtry Colleges did not bike in the alumni race, according to the Rice Program Council’s final report, and the GSA was disqualified from the men’s race for accidentally sending out two bikers simultaneously.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.