Earth Day was April 22. Our planet is facing emergencies of unprecedented proportions. If our civilization is to survive in recognizable form, we must confront our addictions to fossil fuels now. No issue has greater importance. Fossil fuels seem cheap and will be burned as long as that perception continues. We need to be honest about true costs – to our only planet, to human health, to the future of life as we know it.
Worldwide refugee crises are a function of drought, desertification and food shortages; these result in war, destabilizing regions and countries accepting refugees. One billion refugees are predicted if climate change continues to ravage the earth. According to the WWF, 40 percent of all mammals have already died in the last 20 years, 70 percent of seabirds since 1950. As sea levels have risen, Miami Beach has water in the streets and fish in yards with rains. Military plans are underway to move Cape Canaveral and coastal military installations. The military recognizes climate change destabilization as the most significant military threat it faces.
James Hansen, former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute, retired to work full-time on education of these issues. His proposal for correcting the artificially low fossils price is called fee and dividend. It charges a carbon fee at the source (or port of entry) of $15/ton, increasing $10/ton/year. By the time the fee reaches $100/ton of CO2, it is estimated to add $1/gallon at the pump. That’s the fee part. Simple. The dividend part is revenue-neutral: It would be distributed 100 percent equally (except small administrative costs) to each legal resident. Amounts could be transferred electronically to bank accounts or debit cards, thereby avoiding new bureaucracies or regulations and not growing government. Estimates are that two-thirds of the population would come out ahead or equal on their energy budgets, providing an economic stimulus. It is progressive, not regressive: Wealthier people generally have larger carbon footprints. Citizens Climate Lobby had 265 chapters in the United States by February. One has newly formed in Durango: Contact DurangoCCL@gmail.com for more information.
Marilyn McCord
Vallecito
