Carbon fee revenue — rebated, then invested.
A predictable, escalating carbon fee starting at $80/ton and rising $36 per year — with the Energy Stipend rebating the equivalent of $160/ton per capita via your FedCard. Revenue from fees above $160/ton funds the Climate Adaptation Trust.
How the Carbon Fee Works
Four steps, zero complexity for households.
What the Carbon Fee Doesn't Fund
The carbon fee is revenue-neutral up to $160/ton. Above that, net revenue funds climate adaptation.
Climate adaptation — hardening infrastructure, buying out flood zones, undergrounding utilities — is funded by the Climate Adaptation Trust, sourced from General Fund surplus. The carbon fee and the adaptation budget are deliberately separated.
If adaptation spending were funded by carbon revenue, the government would have a perverse incentive to keep emissions high — more carbon means more money for programs. By capping the rebate at the $160/ton level and directing excess revenue to the Climate Adaptation Trust, the incentives stay aligned: the government wants emissions to fall, and so does every household collecting a stable stipend from a decarbonizing economy.
Climate Adaptation Trust
$100 billion per year. Ring-fenced. Expert-directed.
Ecological Solvency
Tracked through the Development Capacity Framework.
The US scores well on renewable capacity but poorly on grid resilience, wildfire preparedness, and water infrastructure. The Accord targets 75+ within 15 years.
Carbon Fee Revenue Trajectory
Revenue peaks as emissions decline — exactly as designed.
Revenue peaks around Year 10-12 as the fee rises faster than emissions fall, then declines as the economy decarbonizes. By Year 25, carbon revenue is a small fraction of GDP — mission accomplished.