Energy and Climate

Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade

9 public statements from 2026 candidates · 2 related bills

§1The range of views

Why this matters: A carbon price makes fossil fuels cost more so people and companies use less, and the money raised can be returned to households or spent on other priorities.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Whether to charge for carbon dioxide emissions, through a tax or a cap-and-trade system in which companies buy permits to emit, as some states already do.1,2

  1. No tax, fee or cap-and-trade on carbon emissions
  2. A fee only on imports made with more emissions than similar US goods
  3. A price on emissions from US companies, through a tax, fee or cap-and-trade

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

No tax, fee or cap-and-trade on carbon emissions (1)

A price on emissions from US companies, through a tax, fee or cap-and-trade (6)

  • Sam Liccardo CA-16
    His campaign website says he supports a carbon dividend, under which fees on major fossil fuel companies would be returned directly to taxpayers.4
  • Brad Sherman CA-32
    His campaign website says he supports legislation like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which would put a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels.5
  • Robert People FL-15
    His affordability plan says he will back legislation creating a federal carbon pricing model whose revenue would be returned to households as monthly dividends.6
  • April McClain Delaney MD-6
    Her campaign website says Congress should price carbon, along with increasing basic climate science research, creating new incentives to decarbonize industries and addressing regulatory gaps.7
  • Moshe Y. Landman MD-6
    His campaign website says the United States should impose a greenhouse gas fee or tax that makes polluters pay for the harm they have caused.8
  • LaVeta Davenport MI-1
    The Green Party of Michigan 2026 platform text on her campaign website, which says she fully aligns with it, calls for a fee on fossil-fuel carbon, with all of the money returned to people in equal shares.9

Statements that don't match one option (2)

  • Tom McClintock CA-5
    His campaign website says he finds claims about human activity's effect on climate change unconvincing, and includes a 2009 speech criticizing a proposed federal cap-and-trade plan that he says would raise costs for families.10
  • Brad A. Meyer IN-9
    His campaign website describes carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems as approaches that make polluters pay, says industry lobbying has weakened or defeated most proposals, and says clean alternatives will stay disadvantaged until pollution has a cost for polluters.11

§3Related bills

Why this matters: Bills from 2023–2026 that bear on this issue, with how Congress handled them.