Christopher Byrd: What to give Tallahassee, and the world, for Earth Day

Christopher Byrd
My View

I was thinking about what to get everybody in Tallahassee for Earth Day. You know,something thoughtful and appropriate. How about $1,500 and clean air?

You're probably saying, "Hey, I like the $1,500, and that clean air sounds pretty good, too. But how are you going to do that? You're not exactly Bill Gates."

Let's talk about clean air first. We'll get to the money in a minute.

We burn fossil fuels that not only foul the air we breathe but also release massive amounts of carbon dioxide that remain in our atmosphere for long periods of time. CO2, a very potent greenhouse gas, has risen from 280 parts per million in the 19th century to 390 ppm today.

Scientists warn that if we don't reduce that level to 350 ppm, global temperatures will rise to dangerous levels by the end of this century.

A cap-and-trade bill passed the U.S. House last summer but gained no traction in the Senate. This might be for the best, though, as the bill gave so many concessions to the fossil fuel industry — carbon offsets, free permits — that CO2 reductions would have fallen far short of the necessary mark.

The biggest problem with cap-and-trade is the volatility it adds to the price of carbon-based fuels, which discourages long-term investments in clean energy. If Tallahassee utilities wanted to convert from using a mix of fossil fuels to, let's say, solar thermal, we would want assurance that solar technologies will be cheaper than oil and gas in a reasonable period of time, say, 10 years.

There's a solution that ends up being a much better deal both for the planet and the American people — carbon fee and dividend.

If the way out of this mess, as most policy-makers agree, is to put a price on carbon, we shouldn't play around with a system that causes the price to yo-yo up and down. Instead, put a fixed fee on each ton of CO2 that a fuel generates and apply that fee as far upstream as possible — the well, mine or port of entry. Increase that fee gradually each year so that, within a decade, alternative sources of energy — solar, water, biofuels — produce power more cheaply than fossil fuels.

This will ensure a swift transition to clean energy, which will reduce CO2 levels in the long term. It will also create millions of new jobs in the green technology sector and free us from dependence on foreign oil. But putting a fee on carbon-based fuels will also increase the cost of energy. In order to keep Tallahassee from taking the hit economically, all the revenue from the carbon fee will be returned households.

How much revenue are we talking about? Perhaps this is a good time to bring up the $1,500 I mentioned at the beginning. A little math is required.

If the carbon fee starts out at $15 per ton of CO2 and increases $10 each year, in 10 years the fee will be $115 per ton of CO2. The U.S. currently emits 6 billion tons of CO2. Assuming the carbon fee is doing its job, emissions a decade from now will be 4 billion tons. Multiply 4 billion by $115, and you get $460 billion. Divide that by 300 million residents, and you get an annual per-capita dividend of $1,500.

So, Happy Earth Day, Tallahassee. Your clean air and $1,500 are in the works. All you have to do is join efforts in persuading U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux to support a carbon fee and dividend approach on climate legislation. If you want to learn more, visit our table at the Earth Day celebration on the Capitol on Thursday.

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20100421/OPINION05/4210303/1006/OPINION/Christopher-Byrd-What-to-give-Tallahassee-and-the-world-for-Earth-Day

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