A Holts Summit couple was among 1,200 volunteers from all 50 states who spent time this week in Washington, D.C., advocating for climate policy.
George and Kathy Laur were part of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby 9th annual International Conference, advocating for legislation to help transition to renewable energy.
“The policy we’ve been talking about is carbon fee and dividend,” George Laur said. “We want to put a price, or fee, on carbon as it comes out of the ground, so that would be at a mine or well. This would also be on imported oil, as well, as it enters the American economy. The other part, the dividend, is we want to return the revenue collected on the fees back to households. We believe this would be revenue-neutral. It doesn’t grow government, and it’s a non-regulatory policy.”
Laur is particularly motivated to meet with members of Congress because of his concerns for agriculture. He grew up on a Missouri farm in the 1960s, which is now a Missouri Century Farm. While other members of the family farmed, Laur spent most of his career in publishing related to agriculture with the University of Missouri Extension.
“The policy we’re advocating is something that economists agree would be most efficient to reduce emissions,” Laur said. “It’s also a good non-partisan solution. Both conservative and progressive economists agree on it. It’s a market-based solution versus regulatory solution. Conservatives and Republicans like market-based. Progressives like it because it would reduce emissions.”
Laur said the volunteers from Citizens’ Climate Lobby had more than 500 congressional meetings during this Washington visit, including stops to talk with officials of the Missouri congressional delegation.
“Our big success has been the creation of the Climate Solutions Caucus in the House of Representatives,” he said. “This started in the Congress before President Donald Trump was elected. We started with six Republicans and nine Democrats, and the caucus rules call for a balance between the two parties. In a Congress where most people thought nothing could have an effect on climate change, this caucus has grown to 39 Democrats and 39 Republicans.”
Laur said Missouri congressional leaders have expressed interest in getting on the caucus, but he doesn’t believe any movement will happen until after the November election.
“The Paris Climate Agreement says all countries want to see a climate policy,” he said. “President Trump has indicated he wants to pull out of the agreement, but polls show many don’t want him to — even many industry officials have indicated they want the U.S. to stay.”
Laur said they’ll return to Washington, D.C., in November to do a climate education day with Congress.
“Right now we’re pretty darn pumped up and excited about what happened,” he said.