When Caught in a Hole...Stop Digging!

Have you heard the saying, “When digging a hole and things aren’t looking good, STOP DIGGING!”

Citizens Climate Lobby goal is to enable us to stop digging a climate hole for our kids.

Many years ago, climate scientists advised us that we needed to stop digging and climb out of our carbon hole and move the source of our power needs to wind, solar, nuclear, and any other form of energy generation that does not pour greenhouse gasses into the air. Knowing the science is one thing but making the tough political decisions is another. One problem is that years ago we, the United States, decided to promote fossil fuels production via subsidies. This worked fine then but now, the subsidies given fossil fuels give the fossil fuel industry an unjustified advantage in the energy marketplace. This slows the critical transition to clean energy.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that the fossil fuel industry received in direct and indirect subsidies, 5.3 trillion dollars, or 10 million a minute in 2015. Even with these massive subsidies, solar and wind often outperform fossil fuels.  

Scientists are now focusing their efforts finding ways to suck carbon dioxide out of our air and safely store it or find a commercial use for it. While they are tirelessly trying to discover cost effective ways of doing this, they always tell us, “Stop digging, drilling, or pumping. The first thing that must be done is to cease burning fossil fuels”.

To counterbalance the market subverting fossil fuel subsidies, Citizen’s Climate Lobby proposes a carbon pollution fee coupled with a citizen dividend, “CF&D”. In fact, that is the one and only lobbying point we, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, make.

 

The economic equation is simple and is the one nearly all economists recommend to change behavior.  In turn, we humans will, via smart shopping and entrepreneurial spirit, find better and cleaner alternatives.

 Simply stated, if the price of carbon-based fuels rises, cleaner sources of energy become more attractive. What is even more enticing is solar and wind are more efficient and less expensive every year. The transition will cost a bit up front but will inevitably be less expensive for us in a multitude of ways. *

Here is how Carbon Fee and Dividend works: 

A fee is levied at the point the coal, oil, or gas enters the market place based on how much CO2 will eventually enter our atmosphere.  The first year will be 15 dollars a metric ton and will increase each year, thereafter, by an additional 10 dollars a metric ton. ** Energy consumers, both business and private, will be able to project ahead and make efficiency changes. We can plan and choose our energy sources to protect and stimulate our economy.

The dividend will be distributed equally to all citizens. Explaining the details of the dividend is worthy of a column of its own. So, in the interest of space available, I will conclude that the Dividend is essential because it protects our economy and the less wealthy citizen. It is not a policy intended to “grow government”.

Is it time to stop digging the fossil fuel hole? Is it time to switch to modern energy via Carbon Pollution Fee and Dividend? It is my opinion CF&D is overdue.  If you agree with me, join the non-partisan organization Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

*Shifting away from fossil fuels, even without considering mitigating climate change, has many advantages. Clean energy does not produce pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides, soot, mercury, and volatile organic compounds. CCL estimates that our CF&D will save 230,000 lives in 20 years. Think of how many trips to the emergency room or doctor’s office will be eliminated.  Thus, even without mitigating the effects of climate change such as floods, sea-level rise, the spread of vector borne illnesses and wildfires, enacting a carbon fee is already a winning proposition.

**An example of a CF&D computation: Gasoline weighs 6.3 lbs. per gallon. When we burn it, we put 19.6 pounds of carbon dioxide gas into the air. 19.6 pounds of CO2 is .009 metric ton.  A fee of 15 dollars per metric ton would increase the price of gas 13 and a half cents per gallon.

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