It looks like the climate and energy bill from senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman won't be released for several weeks at the earliest. Funny how slowly legislation develops when you're trying to secure the blessing of the American Petroleum Institute.
Let's face it: Any policy that makes the fossil fuel industry happy will likely fail to reduce carbon-dioxide to levels that are safe and sustainable. That's what's happening with the pending bill from Kerry, Graham and Lieberman (also known as KGL). Big coal and big oil have a comfortable seat at the table, and they're not getting up until they like what they see.
One of the things they like is carbon offsets, which allow polluters to spew more CO2 by paying for carbon-reducing programs elsewhere. These offsets are usually cheaper than the CO2 permits they replace, and their value in the carbon-reduction arena is questionable. For example, a utility could pay a nation not to harvest lumber in a specified acreage of tropical rainforest. The only problem is that international lumber companies simply move on to the next rainforest. No carbon reduction is actually achieved.
If you're a fossil fuel lobbyist, there's more to like about the KGL proposal - offshore drilling for oil and gas. If the aim of a climate bill is to lower CO2 levels, by what convoluted logic do you take more carbon-based fuel out of the Earth?
Although they're no longer uttering the words "cap and trade," the KGL proposal will employ some form of this system with utilities, which are responsible for some 40 percent of the CO2 we emit. Cap and trade is the preference of Wall Street speculators who thrive on price volatility, but such uncertainty provides little incentive for businesses and industries to make long-term investments in clean energy.
Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have attempted to address these shortcomings with their CLEAR Act. Their proposal takes the cap and dividend approach, auctioning off all CO2 permits and returning 75 percent of the revenue to all households in the form of a monthly payment. While their legislation is a vast improvement, it retains several flaws that make it ineffective. Economist Robert Shapiro calls the CLEAR Act "cap and trade light." You can listen to his analysis of KGL and the CLEAR Act from Saturday's conference call with Citizens Climate Lobby.
When it comes to stabilizing the Earth's climate, half-measures won't cut it. With time running out before we hit disastrous tipping points, we may only get one crack at a solution.
That's why Citizens Climate Lobby didn't ask the barons of carbon-based energy for input on climate legislation. Instead, we turned to scientists like Dr. James Hansen for advice on the maximum safe level of CO2 our atmosphere should hold and how to go about reducing CO2 to that level.
His answers, laid out clearly and convincingly in his new book, "Storms of My Grandchildren," are as follows:
- We have to reduce CO2 levels from the current 389 parts per million to 350 ppm.
- To achieve this, we must stop burning fossil fuels, transitioning as quickly as possible to clean energy by placing a predictable and steadily-increasing fee on carbon.
Based on Dr. Hansen's recommendations, we drafted a proposal known as carbon fee and dividend, which increases the price of carbon-based fuels, making clean energy competitive within a decade.
What gives us the gall to think we can defy the powerful fossil fuel lobby?
Simply put, we wrote a bill that's a good deal for the Earth and a good deal for the American people.
A good deal for the American people? If folks have to pay more for energy, how is that a good deal?
Actually, it's a great deal, because we're giving everybody the money that's generated from the carbon fee. The revenue would be distributed equally to all households in the form of a monthly carbon dividend. Eventually, when the fee reaches $115 for each ton of CO2, a family of four could expect to receive $6,000 annually.
Although carbon fee and dividend is the best solution, we'll need the help of thoughtful citizens to get it enacted. Take a look at our proposal, and if you believe, as we do, that this is the most promising solution to the climate crisis, take action. Write to us (ccl@citizensclimatelobby.org) or give us a call us (619-437-7142), and we'll give you the training and support you need to be an effective lobbyist for the Earth and our grandchildren's future.