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Testifying Before The Senate Today, Obama’s Energy Nominee Ernest Moniz Ducked Questions About His Support For A Tax On Carbon Emissions. SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): “Do you support a carbon tax?” ENERGY SECRETARY NOMINEE ERNEST MONIZ: “Sir, the, first of all I think it’s important to say the administration has not proposed a carbon tax and has no plan to do so. I think that’s the first point. The second point is Department of Energy is not the locust of discussions about such fiscal policies. Our job is to, as I said earlier, our principle job is push the technology innovation to get the cost of the low carbon technologies as low as possible.” SEN. LEE: “Have you in the past advocated on this issue on one side or the other?” MONIZ: “Well for example, in 2008, there was a so-called open letter to the next President whoever it would be prior to the election. That was a time in which there were bipartisan discussions of cap and trade systems and I noted what the implications of that would be.” (Ernest Moniz, Testimony Before The Senate Energy And Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Senate, 4/9/13)

Moniz Has A Long Record Of Supporting A Carbon Tax And Cap-And-Trade

In 2010, MIT Energy Initiative Chairman Ernest Moniz Published A Study Saying That “The Natural Gas Industry Should Start Backing A Price On Carbon Emissions.” “The natural gas industry should start backing a price on carbon emissions, according to the leader of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the future of natural gas. While the study found that US gas consumption will nearly double to account for 40% of energy market share by 2050 without a carbon price, it said capitalizing on resurgent gas reserves while lowering CO2 emissions will require a price on carbon. The increase will come particularly in power generation.” (William Holland, “MIT Study Suggests Gas Industry Favors Price On Carbon,” Electric Utility Week, 7/5/10)

• Moniz “Challenged Industry To Get Behind A Carbon Pricing Scheme, Based On Either Cap-And-Trade Or A Carbon Tax.” “‘It’s the biggest issue in energy,’ study chairman Ernest Moniz of MIT’s Energy Initiative said at the report’s rollout in Washington, as he challenged industry to get behind a carbon pricing scheme, based on either cap-and-trade or a carbon tax.” (William Holland, “MIT Study Suggests Gas Industry Favors Price On Carbon,” Electric Utility Week, 7/5/10)

In 2007, Moniz Said That He “Advocates The Use Of A Carbon Tax Over A Cap-And-Trade System As The Fairest Way To Address GHG Emissions Reductions.” “One of the study’s co-chairs, Ernest Moniz, told Energy Washington that although the study does not make a specific policy recommendation on carbon mitigation, he advocates the use of a carbon tax over a cap-and-trade system as the fairest way to address GHG emissions reductions.” (“MIT Study Co-Chair Quietly Endorsing Carbon Tax As Leading Option,” EnergyWashington Week, 3/28/07)

Moniz Co-Chaired A Report Which Found That “A Significant Charge On Carbon Emissions Is Needed . . . To Increase The Economic Attractiveness Of New Technologies.” ” A significant charge on carbon emissions is needed in the relatively near term to increase the economic attractiveness of new technologies that avoid carbon emissions and specifically to lead to large-scale CCS in the coming decades.” (Press Release, “MIT Panel Provides Policy Blueprint For Future Of Use Of Coal As Policymakers Work To Reverse Global Warming,” MIT Energy Initiative, 3/14/07)