Democrats revoke invitation to Republican to testify on carbon tax

Former Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida was disinvited Friday from testifying at next week’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing focused on climate change. The committee’s Democrats, led by Chairman Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, had invited Curbelo, a former member of the panel, to testify. Curbelo was intending to focusing his testimony on the benefits of a carbon tax.

Curbelo told the Washington Examiner Neal was supportive of him testifying. He said Neal told him he was disinvited for “reasons beyond the chairman’s control." “It's a shame because I thought for a couple days that Democrats might actually be interested in making bipartisan progress on climate policy,” Curbelo said. “Richie Neal is, but clearly, others aren't.” The Washington Examiner has reached out to committee Democrats for a response.

Last year, before losing his seat in Congress, Curbelo was the first Republican in nearly a decade to introduce national carbon pricing legislation. The Ways and Means Committee hearing, scheduled for May 15, is focused broadly on the “economic and health consequences of climate change. But the committee would have jurisdiction over any carbon pricing legislation that Congress might consider, so it figures to be a prominent topic. Curbelo said he plans to attend the Ways and Means Committee hearing anyway and will make public the testimony he planned to give.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/democrats-revoke-invitation-to-republican-to-testify-on-carbon-tax