Policy Update: Pricing Carbon, Paying Dividends
From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, Director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN National Campaign Coordinator
August 28, 2014
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network supports efforts to advance legislation to put a price on carbon and return all or most of the proceeds to American families. We are pleased to support HR 5271, the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act, “cap and dividend” legislation introduced by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in the House of Representatives on July 30, 2014. We will be producing and distributing this occasional newsletter to keep others informed about developments with this bill and with other efforts to put a price on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
More information on the Van Hollen bill can be found at http://climateandprosperity.org.
In This Issue:
#1: A Video Message from Rep. Chris Van Hollen
#2: New York Times, July 30, 2014: The Carbon Dividend, by James K. Boyce
#3: The Baltimore Sun, August 4, 2014: Cap and Dividend
#4: The Washington Post, August 28, 2014: A climate for change: a solution conservatives could accept
#5: The Santa Fe New Mexican: A smart strategy for fighting carbon pollution
#6: Bloomberg Businessweek: Is This How to Sell Americans on Fighting Global Warming?
#7: CCL Legislative Update: Rep. Van Hollen introduces cap-and-dividend bill
#8: With Liberty and Dividends For All book review: Use Common Wealth to Reduce Inequality
#1: A Video Message from Rep. Chris Van Hollen (2 ½ minutes)
#2: New York Times, July 30, 2014: The Carbon Dividend, by James K. Boyce
“From the scorched earth of climate debates a bold idea is rising — one that just might succeed in breaking the nation’s current political impasse on reducing carbon emissions. That’s because it would bring tangible gains for American families here and now.”
#3: The Baltimore Sun, August 4, 2014: Cap and Dividend
“In short, the concept makes a lot of sense — in terms of promoting conservation, reducing pollution and greenhouse gases and supporting renewable energy — with the added benefit of making such a transition a bit easier for anyone with a valid Social Security number. It is the ultimate consumer-friendly approach to a rational U.S. energy policy with the chief shortcoming being that it doesn’t serve the agenda of any deep-pocketed special interest group and so may have trouble finding broad support in Congress.”
#4: The Washington Post, August 28, 2014: A climate for change: a solution conservatives could accept
“This is not the first time that Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), a House Democratic leader, has made the point that the best climate-change policy is not complicated. He introduced a similar plan in 2009. The underlying logic is older still: Since the beginning of the climate debate, mainstream economists, left and right, have argued that the best way to cut greenhouse gases is to use simple market economics, putting a price on emissions that reflects the environmental damage they cause.”
#5: The Santa Fe New Mexican: A smart strategy for fighting carbon pollution
“I’m a University of New Mexico student who works full time to make ends meet. I support this bill because I think we need to make the price of carbon-polluting energy sources reflect their true costs — in terms of the environment and our children’s futures, so we shift away from these sources to cleaner energy supplies. Secondly, I think regular people like me and my working-class family need to have help making the transition.”
#6: Bloomberg Businessweek: Is This How to Sell Americans on Fighting Global Warming?
“The bill would require companies to have permits to produce or import carbon-containing fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. The permits, instead of being allocated politically, would be auctioned off by the government, so they would get into the hands of the emitters who need them the most. A similar auction system drastically reduced emissions of sulfur dioxide—which causes acid rain—quicker and cheaper than experts expected.”
#7: CCL Legislative Update: Rep. Van Hollen introduces cap-and-dividend bill
“The introduction of this legislation shows that we have moved legislators — especially Democrats — a long way toward revenue-neutrality in carbon pricing, as well the concept of returning revenue to households as dividends. This is an important step forward as we seek bi-partisan legislation, and we’re thrilled with Van Hollen’s bill from that standpoint.”
#8: With Liberty and Dividends For All book review: Use Common Wealth to Reduce Inequality
“One beauty of his proposal is that the income everyone receives would come without political or psychological stigma. The dividends couldn’t be criticized as reckless government spending or money taken through taxation. Nor could they be called a handout to the ‘undeserving poor.’ Dividends from common wealth would be a universal birthright, and that is a big part of their appeal. Chase down a copy of With Liberty and Dividends for All. It will challenge many of your assumptions about what we can accomplish within a market economy and within the framework of the commons. The reverberations from this short, readable and profoundly original book will be heard for years to come.”
CCAN encourages readers of Pricing Carbon, Paying Dividends to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included.
Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org.