(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



American Jobs and CO2 Reduction Act [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-09

Democrats should jump onto the “bring back American jobs” bandwagon with their own legislative proposal to bring back American jobs AND be good for the environment by reducing CO2 emissions. The proposal would impose a per-mile tax on fossil fuel transportation systems, such as container ships, giving large businesses a strong incentive to choose local (US) manufacturing over the dollar-cheap but CO2-expensive choice of remote manufacturing.

The plan would tax every Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU or cargo container) that enters the US for the miles that it has traveled. For example, a cargo ship that originated in China travels about 6000 miles to reach West Coast ports. An average container ship carries about 5,000 — 10,000 TEUs. If we charged 1 penny per mile traveled, the cost for an average ship from China to dock in Los Angeles would be $300,000 — $600,000. For example, 5,000 TEUs x 6,000 miles = 30,000,000 x $0.01 = $300,000. Your mileage may vary.

The largest container ships, with about 24,000 TEUs, traveling from China to LA, would have to pay over $1.4M. Having to pay those kinds of prices would be a significant incentive to increase local manufacturing. In 2024, 25.5 million TEUs carried imports into the US, so if those TEUs traveled 3,000 miles on average, that would be total about $75B. Compared to the trillions in inventory that travels around the world, $75B is so small, it’s practically a rounding error while still being large enough to change the profitability calculus of products currently made over seas.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of this plan is that it is NOT a tariff and therefore not subject to the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization. It is simply a cost of doing business in the US. If the corporations want to ship a product 6000 miles, they are welcome to do so. The tax is just a cost of doing business. It is age-old part of the capitalist equation: currently materials + labor + overseas transportation is cheaper than materials + labor + US transportation. Change the equation and change the decisions the corporations make.

Significant push back will come from manufacturers, shipping companies and fossil fuel companies. However, one could point out that this act would be no different than if the cost of fossil fuels go up. If OPEC restricts oil production to drive up prices, shippers pay more for fuel so they charge more and that added price is added to the price the consumer pays. Adding a TEU+mileage charge is really the same thing. Why is it OK if OPEC causes shipping costs to go up but wrong if the US does the same thing? At least if there was a TEU+mileage tax we’d all get something out of it.

And why should ocean transportation be free? Every time we buy gasoline, part of the tax we pay helps to maintain our roads. Every time we travel by bus or by train, part of our ticket price is to help maintain the roads and the railways. Shouldn’t using the ocean come with a cost to help maintain the ocean’s health? Just because in the past we skipped the costs to repair the damage done to the oceans doesn’t mean that it was right. Or that it should be done in the future.

And since this bill is also about CO2 reduction, shippers who chose reduced CO2 transportation systems would pay less. Solar-assisted container ships? Wind power-assisted container ships? All electric container ships? What about robotic sailing ships where each one holds 1 or 2 TEUs (without crews, a fleet of these wind-powered robo-ships could be significantly less expensive to operate). Some companies are already experimenting with adding sails to standard container ships and getting reduced fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions, etc. Any of the above that proves that it really reduces CO2 emissions would qualify for reduced per-mile charges.

To make the bill more consistent, we could impose the same costs on transportation inside the US. Green trucks would get significantly reduced costs per mile. Semi-green trucks, such as hybrids or high-efficiency models, would get more modest cost reductions. Various government incentives could be included to help pay for modernizing the trucks, which would help to reduce CO2 production.

Bringing manufacturing back from overseas and reducing CO2 production don’t have to be mutually exclusive goals. A legislative act similar to the one described above could accomplish both goals instead of trying to force people to pick one or the other.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/9/2326351/-American-Jobs-and-CO2-Reduction-Act?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/