Regardless of your stand on climate change, CO2 does trap heat in the atmosphere.
We know from published accounts of the oil, coal and gas companies how much they sell, and if all their products are burned (a good assumption) there will be enough CO2 added to the atmosphere to double the amount we have already seen. So says the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.
According to a recent study —the REMI report — if this Carbon Fee and Dividend program is adopted, CO2 emissions will decline 33 percent in only 10 years. National employment would increase by 2,100,000 jobs. Thirteen thousand lives would be saved annually due to cleaner atmosphere.
The Carbon Fee and Dividend program would charge producers of fossil fuels a fee for every ton produced. This money would be collected by the federal government and returned to the public in the form of negotiable checks (www.CitizensClimateLobby.org).
— Sheila Maphet
Asheville
The “carbon fee and dividend” solution makes enormous sense!
This way citizens would RECEIVE the carbon fees as a monthly check. That would cancel out the inevitable price spikes in dirty energy.
Polluters PAY the fees, so it holds fossil fuel corporations personally responsible for the damages they cause, hundreds of billions of dollars per year. (Harvard School of Medicine and others)
With this policy, the fee payments to citizens would be there for purchasing low carbon alternatives, which are growing rapidly. That would lower emissions. That happened in BC Canada with a similar policy. They lowered both emissions and taxes with their fees; it’s a popular policy.
To those who reject the science: perhaps nothing will change your mind. But what have you got against cleaner air, less asthma in our kids, fewer heart attacks, and more money in your pockets?
To those accepting the science: Any effort and expense to limit the problem of climate change is worth it. For example:
A cost-benefit analysis has demonstrated that the cost of sea level rise ALONE is so great that no expense to prevent it is unwarranted.
Why even bother with the paid deniers who thrive on the delay of a false debate? IMO we must take action and the way forward is to support those in government who will act.