In the wake of George Wilkes’ cancellation of his scheduled appearance before the Grand Marais City council on Wednesday, July 10, the council tabled its decision on the proposal he had submitted to pass a resolution supporting the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
Simply put, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act assesses a steadily rising fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels at the source of production or point of importation.
The legislation also calls for a market-based approach that refrains from picking winners and losers and minimizes the need for onerous government energy regulations and subsidies.
Before they reached a decision to vote or table the matter, councilor Tim Kennedy asked his fellow council members to discuss the proposal.
The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 percent in 12 years by incentivizing development and the use of energy efficiency and low-carbon energy sources.
Wilkes is a member of the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the PUC has already passed a resolution supporting the proposed legislation.
Councilor Kelly Swearingen said she had some trouble with the legislation, pointing out that Social Security and Medicare were two well-meaning organizations that started out on course and then grew much larger than anticipated.
“I have no issue with being carbon neutral,” she said, adding, “but if we’re saying yes to something and we don’t know where it’s going from here or how far it’s going from here, I have trouble with that. Some of the things people are asking me is that it seems like we’re taking money out of one pocket and putting it in another pocket.”
Mayor Jay Arowsmith DeCoux said the legislation, as proposed now, puts a cap on the administrative costs so that seemed like a good idea. Still, he added, with so many unknowns, “it’s like casting for something but you are not sure you are [casting] in the lake.”
Councilor Craig Schulte said he has had, “Many, many people reach out to me about this. I wasn’t involved on the council when this was first discussed. I have the same feelings Kelly has about this being a big government thing.”
Mayor Jay pointed out the city had passed the Carbon Fee and Dividend policy in 2017 that aligned somewhat with this revenue-neutral, carbon pricing policy and he suggested another strategy for the council to consider. Instead of passing the resolution, he offered to write a letter to Minnesota legislators outlining the steps the city has taken to line up with reducing carbon emissions, and to urge them to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
He then read the five bullet points of the Act that he said he supported.
“Fees that are collected are refunded less the cost of administration and are returned to the American people on a per capita basis. A border system of tariffs and rebates is established to protect American business, and the policy incentivizes other countries to implement similar carbon pricing policies. And the legislation suspends federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations on applicable greenhouse gases including CO2.
Benefits of passing the Act include improving the U.S. economy by increasing employment, and increasing local rural, renewable, energy development. Better air quality will help save lives and improve the health of all citizens. Low and moderate income families will benefit economically.”
Both councilors Swearingen and Schulte said they would prefer that Jay write a letter to the legislators, and Jay said he would write one up and let the council read it and make changes as needed before it was sent off.
Kennedy said he was glad to have the discussion.
The council will discuss the matter further at an upcoming meeting with Wilkes hopefully at the table to answer questions, and a vote may take place then on the Act.
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