A polluter fee means big things for the Big Sky State
Like putting $156 million every year into Montanans’ pockets
Congress is considering making polluters pay, and Montanans will benefit. The Big Sky State has tremendous untapped potential in land, sun and wind that could lead to money from lease payments, taxes, and wages pouring into rural Montana.
$51 million each year in lease payments to Montanan landowners
With a carbon polluter fee, renewable energy companies will need to lease large amounts of land for solar and wind farms. An estimated $51 million in lease payments each year will go directly back to landowners, creating a new stable revenue source for farmers, and helping to preserve rural Montanan farms.
$65 million each year in wages to Montanan workers
When polluters pay, investment in renewable energy will soar. As solar and wind farms are built in Montana, it will create new, stable jobs in construction ($24 million each year in wages) and operations and maintenance ($41 million each year in wages). The indirect economic benefit of these wages will be several times this amount as the funds are spent in local businesses, workers are housed and fed, and children are sent to school.
$40 million in tax payments to Montanan towns and communities
A carbon polluter fee will increase investment in utility-scale wind and solar power in the US. Up to 99% of these renewable projects will be housed in rural communities with large areas of unused land.
Energy companies that set up solar and wind farms would pay around $40 million in local taxes to rural Montana communities. These communities can then invest this tax money however they choose year after year.
Montana’s rural communities need a price on carbon!
As we transition to clean energy, land, sun and wind are the new currency for energy development. Montana has all three.
Learn more about what makes carbon pricing great for Montana, and great for Americans nationwide.
