Once again I read with dismay another misinformed column in the local unnamed daily paper regarding climate change. Written by one Merrill Mathews of the Institute For Policy Innovation, the column attempts to portray the poor lonely climate change denier as a victim of a McCarthy era witch hunt, not the flim flam man that he actually is.
A little note about the Institute For Policy Innovation, according to SourceWatch.
“The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is a think tank based in Lewisville, Texas and founded in 1987 by Congressman Dick Armey to “research, develop and promote innovative and non-partisan solutions to today’s public policy problems. The conservative Capital Research Center ranked IPI as amongst the most conservative groups in the US, scoring it as an “eight” on a scale of one to eight. IPI has received funding from corporations like Exxon Mobil and organizations like the Kochs’ Claude R. Lambe Foundation, Scaife Foundations, the Bradley Foundation, and others.”
Some climate change victim, eh? Flim flam man all the way.
Instead of getting mad at one more conservative blowhard I decided to look on the positive side of the debate and found out that Joseph Robertson, the Global Strategy Director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, will be speaking in Duluth next week to explain a promising proposal to deal with climate change that differs significantly from earlier Cap and Trade efforts.
I don’t do this often in my columns but this week I will defer often to the Citizens’ Climate lobby website where readers can bone up on the particulars of the proposed Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation.  
Why Carbon Fee and Dividend you might ask.
“As long as fossil fuels remain artificially cheap and profitable, their use will rise. Correcting this market failure requires their price to account for their true social costs. To gain bipartisan support we advocate for a true cost-comparison between competing fuels AND reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
What will it do you might ask.
“A national carbon price, with full revenue return and border adjustments, will do four things: internalize the social cost of carbon-based fuels, rapidly achieve large emission reductions, stimulate the economy & recruit global participation.”
Robertson will be speaking at the Alworth Lecture Series, Tuesday, April 28, 7 PM, in Bohannon Hall 90 at UMD. Robertson’s talk is titled: “Living the Paradigm Shift:  Carbon Pricing, Citizen Engagement and the Pathway to Paris”.
 
Robertson outlines three parallel tracks to solving climate change: the carbon fee and dividend legislation that is gaining traction in Congress, coordinated reliable citizen engagement to support our legislators, and the Pathway to Paris project. The event is Free and Open to the Public.  A reception follows the lecture.

Robertson will also appear at a press conference earlier in the day, 1 PM, at Zeitgeist Arts Café, 222 E. Superior St. Contact Katya Gordon for more info about then gatherings at (218) 290-5975.

According to the Citizens’ Climate Lobby website (CCL@citizensclimatelobby.org):

“Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation puts a fee on the amount of carbon dioxide in fossil fuels. This fee is assessed at the source of the fuel: at the mine, well, or port of entry. The fee starts out low and increases annually in a predictable manner until we reach a safe level of emissions. The fee is collected exclusively at the first point of sale, and 100 percent of the revenues are reimbursed directly to all American households, shielding them from the financial impact of the transition to a clean energy economy. Because the fee (and the price of fossil fuel) goes up predictably over time, it sends a clear price signal to begin using fossil fuels more efficiently or replace them with low emissions energy. That price signal motivates investment to move into low emissions technologies, as the true cost of fossil fuels is brought back onto the balance sheets of those who sell them. The rising cost of fossil fuels increases the demand for low emissions products, making them even less expensive as they reach mass production. This clear and easy-to-understand price signal (increasing fossil fuel costs and decreasing green technology costs) drive the transition to a green economy. This transition will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stabilizing our climate and the health of our oceans.”

While I’m still wrapping my head around the concept of the carbon fee, another part of the proposed legislation aims to create a fund out of the fees that will be returned to all citizens as a hedge against the potential increased cost of shifting from cheap fossil fuels to other forms of energy.

What is the dividend you might ask.

“The dividend is defined as the quantity of revenue to be rebated to American households. In this case, 100 percent of the total carbon fees collected are divided up and given back to all households equally. This dividend helps citizens pay the increased costs associated with the carbon fee while our nation transitions to a clean energy economy. Because not everyone uses the same amount of carbon, the majority of American households (about 66 percent) are estimated to earn back as much or more than they pay in increased costs.”

Sounds like a nifty deal to share the costs we citizens and consumers assume within a true economy and democracy. It may be another of the big steps needed to divorce ourselves from the economic feudal state/monarchy that has turned our republic into what I call the Economocracy.

To get a good idea of what we can do to solve the problem of climate change rather than arguing about whether it exists or not, give a listen to Robertson next Tuesday in Duluth.