The first crack in the Republican resistance to climate action has begun with a resolution presented by Representative Gibson (R-NY) which has garnered an additional 10 Republican sponsors.
It points out that our climate is becoming more erratic and severe, that humanity is responsible, and that we have a responsibility to fix it.
Most conservative voters agree with the above statements. A recent survey conducted by three prominent Republican pollsters discovered that most conservatives believe that the climate is changing and that humans are responsible. In fact, 54 percent of conservative voters support a tax on fossil fuels with the proceeds being distributed to the American people.
Fortunately, such a revenue-neutral, market-based alternative exists in the form of the Citizens' Climate Lobby's www.citizensclimatelobby.org fee-and-dividend proposal, which assesses a slowly rising fee on carbon at its source (at the mine or wellhead) and then distributes 100 percent of the revenue evenly to all American households. This proposal is endorsed by former President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, George Schultz, who is on the Citizens' Climate Lobby board among other conservatives. Since the bottom two-thirds of the population get more in the refund than they will pay out in increased energy costs, the economy is expected to grow faster than the status quo, adding 2.8 million more jobs. The proposal results in a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions with more than 200,000 premature deaths avoided over 20 years. Clearly, there is no longer an economic argument against climate action.
This common sense plan also has the backing of people across the political spectrum notably Rep. Rick Nolan in our Congressional District.
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Now that the massive resistance on Capitol Hill is breaking, it's high time that leaders at every level of society stand up and be counted for climate action, now.
Eric Enberg
Hermantown
