As the Senate wrestles with the budget reconciliation legislation that contains both social safety net and climate change segments, it appears that the Clean Energy Power Plan (CEPP) that was to be the primary answer to the climate crisis will not make the cut.
But here’s the thing — we must reduce emissions in all sectors of our economy, and economies around the world, not just from generating electricity, which produces only 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. We need a process that will cover the entire economy.
There is one! “Putting a price on carbon” through a fee-and-dividend mechanism promises to reduce emissions 45% by 2030, put millions of people to work in “green energy” jobs, remove pollution from our air and clean up our water.
While the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA) has been the preference for the 200,000-plus of us who belong to Citizens’ Climate Lobby, there are several carbon pricing bills being debated by the Senate that work in a similar way. Two essential ingredients are a “carbon cash back” dividend that Americans will receive and a border carbon adjustment to ensure that the rest of the world will take the necessary actions to reduce their emissions. Most Americans will wind up with money in their pockets.
I want my carbon cash back! If you want yours, let Sen. Bob Casey know that you support “putting a price on carbon” here: citizensclimatelobby.org/senate/.
Bruce Cooper
Cranberry Township
The writer is group leader of the Slippery Rock chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.