When it comes to climate change and saving the Earth, I live in binary worlds. In one, friends and acquaintances sign petitions and push for clean air regulations. The other, those with the real power call climate change a hoax, ludicrously promote “clean coal” and rip apart the Clean Power Plan.
Face it, the deniers are in charge and we’re looking into the abyss. And truth is, I wonder if I’m a little hardened to be warmed by the glory of fighting for a lost cause.
But wait a second. Could it be that there’s a powerful climate change policy that has the following names and organizations all together in the same “save the Earth” basket: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, long time climate scientist Jim Hanson, Tesla’s Elon Musk, prominent Republicans George Schultz and James Baker, Exxon Mobile, Mass. Sierra Club, The Economist, Climate Action Now, Conservative Climate Caucus, Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Whoa, what’s going on here? I was amazed to find the broad support both left and right for Carbon Fee and Dividend. It’s so simple, fair, and most of all powerful, because it reaches the entire fossil fuel economy. Producers of fossil fuels pay a fee for every ton of CO2 produced. These fees are collected and returned to every family quarterly in equal share. This “dividend” to residents cancels out the higher cost to consumers. Most consumers, particularly those with low carbon footprints, will come out ahead. This incentivizes consumers to conserve and reflects the true cost of fossil fuels.
If you live in Ashfield, Conway, Buckland, Plainfield, Charlemont, Amherst, Whatley or Shutesbury, you can support Carbon Fee and Dividend Resolutions when you go to town meeting. This policy could work, I’m feeling better already.
George Butler
Conway