The PROVE IT Act (S. 1863) is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, threatening to burden Iowa’s hardworking farmers and families with new taxes and inflated costs. The act, under the guise of collecting emissions data, sets the stage for imposing harmful carbon taxes on both imports and domestic products. This legislation would have devastating downstream effects, particularly on Iowa’s agricultural sector, which is the lifeblood of our state.
The PROVE IT Act mandates the Department of Energy to gather emissions data for various products, including critical agricultural inputs like fertilizers. While this may sound harmless, it paves the way for carbon tariffs and domestic carbon taxes. Such measures would drive up costs for Iowa’s farmers, leading to higher prices for food and essential goods. This echoes the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which has resulted in higher living costs and sluggish economic growth across Europe.
The implications for Iowa are clear. A carbon tax on fertilizers would increase production costs for our farmers, who are already grappling with thin profit margins. This additional financial strain would not only affect the farmers but ripple through the entire supply chain, eventually reaching the consumers who are already suffering from an unprecedentedly high cost of living. Grocery bills would rise, and the overall cost of living in Iowa would climb, hitting low-income families the hardest.
Instead of continuing to burden and punish our farmers, businesses, and consumers in the name of lowering emissions, we should look to bi-partisan measures to incentivize low-carbon practices. In Iowa, our farmers are great stewards of the land and will work to meet emission goals if they are given the opportunity. Our elected officials are creative, pragmatic, and more than capable of finding a solution to meet emission goals without copying and implementing harmful regulations from the European Union.
Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a supporter of the PROVE IT Act, has openly discussed the possibility of a joint US-EU carbon fee on imports. This underscores the Act’s true intention: to align the United States with Europe’s restrictive climate policies, which are ill-suited for Iowa’s economy. We should not follow in Europe’s footsteps, where such policies have led to economic stagnation and higher living costs. Instead, we need to protect our state’s economic interests by rejecting measures that would impose similar burdens on our industries and families.
Moreover, the data collection mandated by the PROVE IT Act will inevitably lead to the imposition of carbon taxes. This pattern has been observed before. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) used data collected under the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program to introduce a methane tax. The same approach could easily be applied here, turning emissions data into a tool for enacting further taxes. This was evident when Senate Democrats opposed an amendment to the PROVE IT Act that would have blocked the future use of collected data to impose carbon taxes.
Iowa’s agricultural sector, already under pressure from fluctuating commodity prices and international trade disputes, cannot afford additional financial burdens. The PROVE IT Act’s supporters argue it will hold foreign polluters accountable, but this is misleading. In reality, the burden of import taxes will fall on American businesses and consumers. It is a domestic consumption tax in disguise, one that our farmers and families will end up paying.
The PROVE IT Act also fails to address the primary source of global emissions effectively. China, the world’s largest emitter, would not be significantly impacted by these measures. This approach would do little to curb global emissions while placing a disproportionate financial burden on Iowans.
Our state’s elected officials, like Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, must stand against this kind of misguided legislation. The PROVE IT Act is not a benign environmental measure but a Trojan horse for new taxes that would harm Iowa’s economy. By opposing this Act, Rep. Miller-Meeks can protect our farmers, support our local economy, and ensure that Iowans are not unfairly penalized by ill-conceived federal policies.
The PROVE IT Act represents a significant threat to Iowa’s economic well-being. It is crucial that our representatives recognize this and take a firm stand against it. We need policies that support our farmers and families, not ones that impose unnecessary financial burdens and drive up the cost of living. Iowa deserves better, and it is up to our elected officials to ensure that we get it.
- Mark Heckman
DeWitt
