Prior To Tonight’s Debate Stage, Hegar Is Repeatedly On Record In Support Of A Carbon Tax

In 2019, Hegar Said She Was Open To Supporting A Bill That Would Tax Carbon, Saying It “Sounds Like The Type Of Thing I Would Support,” But Said That She Did Not Support Increasing Costs For The Middle Class. QUESTION: “There’s a bill in the House of Representatives now, HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Climate and Carbon Dividend Act, which would put a tax on fossil fuels, and thereby accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. What’s different about this one that all the revenue from the tax is returned to the American people in the form of equal dividends. Would you support such a bill if it were introduced in the senate?” HEGAR: “So I am always careful to answer whether or not I was support a bill if I haven’t read it. Okay, because from what you’re talking about, it sounds like the type of thing I would support, I will say that we have to be careful passing on the burden to the middle class, which when we tax things that increase the cost of food, and things like that, we do have to be careful. So I am not for increasing the burden already burden on the middle class. I think that there are people who need to carry that burden that are not consumers of milk in the middle class. But I am going to support aggressive action on climate change.” (Texas Tribune Interview, 12/11/19, 55:40)

In 2020, Hegar Said She Stands With The Sierra Club In Supporting A Carbon Tax, And Said She Would Have Backed Legislation Co-Sponsored By Congresswoman Escobar Imposing A Carbon Tax. QUESTION: “You talked about diversifying the energy sources. But we still have fossil fuels and they’re still relatively inexpensive. One proposal to deal with that is the carbon fee and dividend proposal, which is where you would have a fee on fossil fuel emissions to be paid as a dividend directly to American households as a way of mitigating climate change. What is your opinion of this idea?” HEGAR: “You know, I stand with the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club who support it but understand that it’s not a silver bullet, that we actually do need to be taking a more wholistic approach. There’s only, I believe, 11 countries that have a carbon fee and we need to make sure we do it right. You know, Congresswoman Escobar down in El Paso co-sponsored a bill that I would have supported. We just need to make sure we’re not enabling the industry to just pass on those costs to the consumer and put an undue burden on already over-burned middle class.” (MJ Hegar, Remarks At League Of Women Voters Of The San Antonio Area & KLRN Candidate Forum, 7/2/20; 31:15-32:18)

• Hegar, On A Carbon Tax: “So I Support It But I Also Recognize That It’s Not The Only Answer, And We Do Need A More Wholistic Approach.” (MJ Hegar, Remarks At League Of Women Voters Of The San Antonio Area & KLRN Candidate Forum, 7/2/20; 31:15-32:18)

Hegar In August 2020: “I Stand With The League Of Conservation Voters And The Sierra Club, Who Support A Carbon Tax…” “If Biden wins, and if you’re in the Senate, it’s pretty likely that there’s going to be climate legislation. I think it’s widely agreed among economists and others that meaningful climate legislation will mean, in some form or another, a carbon tax. Will you support that? You know, I stand with the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, who support a carbon tax but also understand that it needs to be done in a way that doesn’t just pass the burden on to the middle class and to economically disadvantaged areas that are going to have to pay more for gasoline and for milk and for transportation and things like that.” (Jeff Goodell, “Is Texas Ready For A Democratic Senator? MJ Hegar Thinks So,” Rolling Stone, 8/14/20)