Cummins Inc. officials said the company is supporting the climate change provisions in a multi-trillion-dollar federal reconciliation bill and is encouraging Congress to pass the legislation.
However, the company also said provisions in the bill that would increase the corporate tax rate would make U.S.-based corporations “uncompetitive and cost jobs.”
On Friday, Cummins said it specifically supports provisions in the $3.5 trillion bill for clean commercial vehicle deployment, the infrastructure buildout for battery charging and hydrogen fueling stations, as well as the decarbonization and modernization of the nation’s grid.
The 2,465-page measure includes numerous measures to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as an expansion of existing health, education and child care programs for Americans young and old, among other provisions, The Associated Press reported.
Included in the massive legislation is a nationwide clean-electricity program that is intended to eliminate climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035 — catching up to requirements already set in some states, according to wire reports.
The proposal would spend billions to install 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations and upgrade the power grid to make it more resilient during hurricanes and other extreme weather events that are increasing and intensifying as a result of climate change.
Overall, the Biden package aims to provide more than $600 billion to tackle climate change and lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to the AP.
The plan would be paid for by increasing the corporate tax rate, from 21% to 26.5% on businesses earning more than $5 million a year, and by raising the top rate on individuals from 37% to 39.6% for those earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples, according to wire reports.
“The decarbonization investments in the reconciliation bill are critical to accelerating the adoption of innovations that can reduce emissions across the United States and set us on a path to a more sustainable future,” Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger said in a statement.
However, Linebarger said the current revenue raising provisions in the bill “place a tax burden on U.S. headquartered companies that will make them uncompetitive and cost jobs.”
“Equally as important is that corporations must be able to continue to be successful for American working families,” Linebarger said in a statement.
Currently, Democrats are trying to pass the measure on their own by using an elaborate process called budget reconciliation, according to wire reports. Using it allows the bill to bypass an otherwise certain GOP filibuster. But Democrats can’t move forward until they reach agreement among themselves on what the legislation should contain.
