The U.S. Congress is currently considering placing a price on carbon emissions and instituting a border adjustment on carbon intensive imports. What does this mean for Indiana’s 4th district? Quite a lot.
Montgomery County is home to the steel mill where Nucor pioneered electric arc furnace thin-slab casting in 1989. It is much cleaner to produce steel using EAF rather than coal blast furnaces, and the U.S. produces a much greater portion of its steel with EAF than other nations such as China. Thus, enacting a border carbon adjustment would prevent heavier polluters from gaining an unfair advantage over U.S. producers. The American Iron and Steel institute recognizes this, and urges that Congress include a border carbon adjustment with any policy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A domestic carbon price would help a border adjustment withstand scrutiny by the World Trade Organization, and prevent our industries from having to pay the planned EU and Canadian border adjustments, keeping the revenue here in the U.S. For these reasons and more — including reducing air pollution, improving public health, and furthering U.S. leadership in clean energy — I urge Rep. Jim Baird, Sen. Todd Young and Sen. Mike Braun to support a nationwide price on carbon emissions along with a border carbon adjustment.
John Smillie
Crawfordsville
