May 20, 2020
Dear editor;
The U.S. Weather Service report that this month is already the wettest May on record, the third year in a row with the wettest May, should remind us that we need to give attention to our other global health crisis, climate change. It is understandable that dealing with the immediate COVID-19 health threat had to consume our attention. But, we as responsible citizens of the planet must get back to talking about solving climate change.
Time is not on our side for solving this crisis, either. The experts, conservative and liberal, tell us the most effective solution is a carbon tax, one that puts a large enough price on carbon, that our free markets will make a transition us to renewable energy soon enough to avoid the tipping point.
I know putting an additional tax burden on consumers while in an economic downturn, especially those with lower incomes, sounds crazy. It is why I like the current bill in Congress entitled Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) which has a dividend provision. Those carbon tax revenues would not be retained by the government, but would be returned to all Americans as monthly dividends to spend as they choose. Consumers will be motivated to find ways to reduce their carbon cost, and, it is expected that this bill would create 2.1 Million new jobs.
I am a conservative and this revenue neutral bill sounds good to me. We do not need another trillions-of-dollars bill to solve climate change. We must not go back to the old ways. A price on carbon must be part of the new wys of existing. H. R. 763 sounds like the best climate change solution to me, the most comprehensive, and least costly.
Ken Mozingo, Oswego