A bipartisan group has proposed a carbon tax that would help fight climate change while also paying dividends to taxpayers, the New York Times reported.

An initial emissions tax of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide would start the program, which could be included in proposed legislation before Congress as early as next year. The tax is expected to increase gasoline prices by 38 cents a gallon, and would boost home heating costs, too. 

The idea is that would encourage people to look for ways to cut energy use and to turn to wind and solar, for examples. 

The group, Americans for Carbon Dividends, includes former Republican leader Trent Lott and Janet Yellen, who ran the Federal Reserve under Democratic President Barack Obama. 

The proposal already has been supported by the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP.

“It’s something that may command bipartisan consensus,” Yellen said, adding that the tax and dividend approach would be “absolutely standard textbook economics.”