Bloomberg News recently broke a story about various means under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee to help fund the reconciliation bill. One method stands out: a carbon tax with some of the money provided as a dividend to lower-income residents.
This could not only fund some infrastructure, but directly affect the climate risks driving our need for future infrastructure. Every year we are seeing more extreme weather events linked to climate change, from hurricanes in the East to wildfires in the West. Just recently the remnants of Ida caused flooding here in Pennsylvania.
Nearly all economists agree that the most efficient way to reduce carbon emissions is to put a price on it. I hope Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, both on the Finance Committee, will heed the experts and leverage this free market idea to reduce future climate disaster costs.
Chris Mullin
Mt. Lebanon