Guest Commentary
New York City can feel far away from us here in Eastern Washington. But, this past week, history was made there in the steps along the road to an international 2015 global warming agreement. World leaders gathered at the United Nations on Sept. 23 to energize negotiations and build momentum for a global climate treaty in Paris in 2015 to prevent the consequences of global warming, and to contain global warming by the end of the century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
This meeting was preceded by the largest environmental march in United States history on Sept. 21. It was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, hopeful that we can change our economy from one based on combustion of fossil fuel carbon, which emits the CO2 gas that is driving global warming, to one based on carbon-free energy.
The food giant Cargill recently announced: “Cargill sees climate change as a risk influencing our ability to create a more food-secure world.” And General Mills says: “Science-based evidence suggests we must limit the global mean temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid permanently altering the atmosphere and negatively impacting the environmental, social and economic systems that sustain us — both today and in the future.”
Going beyond that 2 degrees C threshold, scientists warn, will result in disastrous impacts — sea level rise, crop failures, record heat waves, water shortages, mass migrations — that will be difficult, if not impossible, for human civilization to adapt to or manage.
How can we reduce our emissions and transition off fossil fuels?
A sensible solution is the market-based, consumer-friendly Carbon Fee and Dividend (CFD) legislative proposal from Citizens’ Climate Lobby that is supported by conservatives.
The steep cuts needed on greenhouse gas emissions will require a steadily rising fee on carbon, which does not hurt the economy if we give the revenue from that fee back to the people as a dividend. As CFD supporter George P. Shultz, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State says, “It’s not a tax if the government doesn’t keep the money.”
A recent study from the highly respected Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), examined the impacts of a fee on the carbon dioxide (CO2) content of fossil fuels, beginning at $10 per ton of CO2 and increasing by $10 a ton each year. Revenue from the fee was divided equally and returned to households as monthly payments. Border tariffs on imports from countries without an equivalent price on carbon, were factored into the study.
The REMI study found that after 20 years, CO2 emissions would drop 50 percent below 1990 levels. The CFD will achieve substantially greater reductions in emissions from electrical generation than EPA regulations. Because of the economic stimulus of recycling revenue from the carbon fee into the pockets of people who are likely to spend the money, 2.8 million jobs would be added to the economy. Until now, opponents have claimed that putting a price on carbon would kill jobs. That myth has been shattered, thanks to the REMI study.
With CFD, U.S. leadership to cut carbon carries with it the upside of adding jobs. By applying border tariffs, other nations will have a strong economic incentive to follow the U.S. lead in pricing carbon. After all, why would any nation allow their businesses to pay the U.S. government for the cost of carbon when those businesses could be paying their own government?
We can transition our economy to carbon-free energy. There were days this summer when Germany generated nearly 75 percent of its power from renewable sources of energy. We see the glimpses of the future with the Tesla EV charging station in Ritzville.
We just need the political will. Forward-thinking Republicans and Democrats should work together now to forge a bi-partisan bill that is introduced and passed early in the next Congress.
Ask Congressional representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Doc Hastings to pass a fee on carbon that gives revenue back to the people. Then the U.S. can lead the world toward a safer, more secure future, no matter what happens in Paris next year.
Alexandra Amonette volunteers with the Tri-Cities chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. More information about the organization is available at http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org.
Reader Comments(0)