On the very same day that President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline, the little town of Carbondale threw its support toward a legislative proposal that benefits both the climate and the economy.
Tuesday, Feb. 24, the town of Carbondale passed, “A resolution urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that levies an annually increasing revenue-neutral fee on the carbon in fossil fuels at the point of production and importation.”
More simply put, the town officially asked Rep. Scott Tipton, Sen. Cory Gardner, and Sen. Michael Bennet to support George Schultz’ carbon fee and dividend.
Schultz was President Reagan’s Secretary of State, and he offers fee and dividend as the conservative answer to climate change. Republicans and many others will no doubt be enraged by the president’s decision on the pipeline, but there is a way forward – especially if the goal is jobs.
Keystone XL would create roughly 42,000 jobs, most of them construction jobs lasting about 19 weeks. Nothing to sneeze at. But carbon fee and dividend, if enacted in 2016, would add 2.1 million jobs to the economy over the next decade – without the federal government spending a dime. In fact, an economic study of this transparent policy showed that it would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent in 10 years. That is a far bigger impact than any pipeline decision or EPA regulation, and it comes with a net positive for the US economy.
If it’s jobs you want, price carbon at the point when fossil fuels come out of the ground, and give all the money back to the American people. Trust me, voters will like cleaner air and a monthly dividend.
Lindsay Gurley
Carbondale