Tax carbon and boost the economy-LTE to jdnews.com
To the editor: This letter is in response to Mike McHugh’s column of July 19, headlined “Senate should end the debacle of cap and trade.”
While I might agree with Mike McHugh that the cap-andtrade bill on climate change is bad legislation, my reasons for opposing the Waxman-Markey bill are very different. Mr. McHugh appears to fall into the category of global warming deniers who see no need to reduce man-made carbon dioxide, despite ice shelves the size of Connecticut falling into the sea. If we continue on our present course, the Outer Banks will be submerged by the end of the century.
My beef with the American Clean Energy and Security Act is that it won’t reduce carbon emissions quickly enough to avert catastrophe. It also creates a trillion-dollar market in carbon futures and derivatives. That’s a boon for Wall Street speculators, perhaps, but an economic disaster in the making.
A simpler and more effective way to stop global warming is to tax carbon at the source and return the revenue to consumers through payroll or income taxes, thus offsetting higher energy costs. Putting a fee on carbon makes clean energy competitive with fossil fuels and will eventually wean us from carbon-based sources of energy.
In addition to creating new jobs, the carbon tax and dividend approach will also provide an economic stimulus by putting money into the pockets of hard-working Americans. Sounds like a win-win if we can stop global warming and boost the economy at the same time.
Steve Valk
Atlanta
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Environment Minister Jim
Environment Minister Jim Prentice, speaking Tuesday in Toronto, said the Canadian government will push for a greater role in the U.S. energy market. He also defended Alberta's oilsands production as "a reality" that is not going away, and said the U.S. will find that oil from that source is important to its future las vegas real estate. "Canada not only can, I say we should play a larger role in the North American energy security solution because when you consider the implications of oil scarcity and the situations by comparison in Russia, Venezuela or the troubled Middle East, Canada's status as the world's most reliable supplier of energy becomes not just an economic opportunity for us but also an obligation to others, perhaps the single best way that we can contribute much-needed stability in an uncertain world," Prentice said credit card debt. But Berman says the federal government would be wise to consider slowing production. "Prentice's focus on ensuring special consideration for oilsands is completely inconsistent with Obama's position," said Berman. "We need to slow down oilsands production and use it to transition towards renewable energy. We're not saying 'shut the oilsands down. mutual funds'" Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the U.S., exporting more than one million barrels per day, about half of which comes from the oilsands. Environmental groups have long criticized the oilsands, pointing to the large amounts energy required to extract bitumen from the sands and the waste created by the process. PowerUP says it represents 850,000 Canadians. It includes groups like the Forest Products Association of Canada and Environmental Defence chase credit cards.