Rooney is a proponent of instituting a carbon tax — a fee on the carbon contents of fossil fuels. That measure, which Rooney said would be “quite an elegant solution” to solving some climate change issues, currently enjoys little support among elected Republicans, least of all the president.
Trump “is so dead set on supporting the coal industry that there is no way he or [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell is going to move forward on a carbon tax,” he said.
Still, Rooney worked with Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., to reintroduce carbon tax legislation earlier this year in the hopes of driving conversation about climate policy, and have more people “realize that Republicans are interested in the environment.”
“We have a voice in this too,” he said.
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