I recently read the a story headlined “Carbon concentration in our atmosphere hits grim milestone,” (Herald, June 13.) I was struck by two concerns the story raised. First, that carbon dioxide is a very long lived gas in the atmosphere. Second, that “a reduction in the CO2 concentration would require a substantial and sustained cut in emissions.”

I also recently read about a solution to global warming in a most surprising place! The oil industry itself! In the Wall Street Journal the CEO of Exxon, Rex Tillerson stated that fossil fuels are raising the temperatures and sea levels. He then makes a case for a market based policy to reduce carbon pollution. How cool is that! The oil industry finally is acknowledging there is a problem!

Tillerson stated “This isn’t a left or right issue. It’s science. And it’s a good thing, too. Without CO2 acting like a blanket trapping heat, the planet would be too cold to sustain life. But you can have too much of a good thing. As we add more CO2 from fossil fuels to the atmosphere, excess heat remains trapped on earth, and the planet warms. This isn’t controversial. The head of Exxon Mobil and most major oil companies agree, along with every scientific academy in the world.”

The solution of carbon pricing will encourage us all to reduce consumption, the question is how to do that fairly across the board to a population of all ages and backgrounds? I have researched the carbon fee and dividend policy approach by Citizen’s Climate Lobby. This is not a carbon tax, but a carbon fee, which is then returned to all American households to offset the increase. This would encourage new jobs in renewable energy and reward people who are low carbon users. I invite our Colorado policy makers in Washington – Rep. Scott Tipton and Sens. Michael Bennett and Cory Gardener – to be leaders in shaping a future of less carbon emissions for us and future generations.

Ed Atkinson

Durango