Your Opinion: Carbon fee, dividend supported to address climate change

Dear Editor:

I agree with the News Tribune's opinion that "it would be foolhardy, and potentially dangerous, to reject the possibility of man-made climate change," as stated Feb. 18 in "Survival plan: Inject sulfur pollution into the air?"

In 1895, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius presented the results of his calculations showing an eight degree Celsius rise at the poles in exchange for a two and one-half to three-fold increase in carbon dioxide. The ensuing 120 years of climate science has solidified our understanding of the effect burning fossil fuels imposes on the earth, and we now have the recorded evidence in measured data to leave no doubt we are in trouble.

Mitigation of climate change will require a 100 percent elimination of carbon dioxide emissions this century. Consensus among climate scientists has centered on a minimum of 80 percent reduction by 2050. Starting in 2015, that would represent 80 percent divided by 35 years equals 2.3 percent reduction per year each year, which remains manageable. Continued procrastination will only make the necessary reductions more severe and hence more onerous to society.

For those who chafe at the thought of mandated federal regulations on the part of the EPA to reduce emissions, I recommend that they tell their members of Congress to support a more conservative market-based solution that puts a price on carbon.

I support Citizens' Climate Lobby's revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend that returns all revenue collected back to households. if you are unfamiliar with carbon fee and dividend, go to citizensclimatelobby.org and check it out. Citizens' Climate Lobby volunteers have visited the congressional offices of all Missouri's U.S. representatives about how this policy works to reduce global emissions while creating jobs right here in Missouri.

The wise course of action is to roll up our sleeves and get to work immediately. Anything else would be foolhardy indeed.