The United States Congress is expected to take up the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act in the coming months. The bill – a potential breakthrough in U.S. climate policy – was proposed in December by Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Susan Collins of Maine. In preparation for that debate, Matthew E. Riddle and I have analyzed the household-level impacts of the bill’s cap-and-dividend climate policy and how these differ across the income spectrum and across the states.
A new report, Clear Economics, shares our findings that the CLEAR Act delivers positive net benefits to the majority of households in every state: what these households will receive in dividends exceeds what they will pay as a result of higher fossil fuel prices. We also suggest ways in which the interstate differences in impacts could be further reduced or eliminated altogether, and assess state-by-state job creation that will result from public investments in the clean energy transition.