As noted in the New York Times ("'A Conservative Climate Solution', A Republican Group Calls for A Carbon Tax'" Feb. 7, 2017), a group of elder Republican statesmen, including former Secretary of State James Baker III, supports imposing a fee (which the journalist refers to as a "tax") on carbon as a way of addressing climate change. This approach has bipartisan support and follows conservative, free market principles. The money raised by the carbon fee would be returned to consumers as a dividend.

There is little doubt that our planet is warming, the past three years have been the warmest on record, and that this global warming is caused by human activities, through the release of carbon. We must come together and work towards a solution as quickly as possible. The U.S. House of Representatives has a bipartisan group, the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus, to address climate change in a nonpartisan fashion. I urge U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton to join this caucus.

In a letter to me, Rep. Tipton stated that one of his top priorities was environmental stewardship. He also said he supports efforts by Congress to find solutions to climate change. I challenge Rep. Tipton to act on his priorities and to work with the members of the Safe Climate Caucus to put forth legislation imposing a fee on carbon, as supported by the Republican elder statesmen.

Gail C. Harriss

Durango