Letter to the editor: Past time for a carbon price

The need to put a price on carbon is the main theme of Matthew Brown’s Feb. 23 Associated Press article “As climate change costs mount, Biden seeks to price damages.”

Citizens’ Climate Lobby has been pushing for a carbon price for over 10 years. The legislation we like, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, started with a price of $15 per ton of fossil-fuel emissions and raised the price $10 per year, returning all of the revenue generated to all Americans in the form of a monthly dividend check. For the majority of American families, the dividend would more than offset the increased cost of carbon-based products.

Because Congress is struggling to pass Build Back Better legislation, President Biden is having to consider executive action to implement some of the climate-change solutions that are critical to the future of the planet. The problem with that, of course, is that the next administration can simply undo those actions.

If we are to meet the goals the United States has set as a part of the Paris climate accord, a carbon price must be a major part of the solution. And for that to be long-lasting, it must be a part of legislation passed by Congress.

If you want to help, go to citizensclimatelobby.org/get-loud-take-action/ and let both the White House and Senate know that you support “putting a price on carbon.”

Bruce Cooper

Cranberry Township