Two strong supporters of finding solutions to the problems caused by climate change came before the county board on Tuesday, June 27. Olya Wright, age 11, represented the Nordic Nature Group and George Wilkes, who is about five times older than Olya, made a case for the board to support casting a resolution in support of a plan to reduce the county’s dependence upon fossil fuels.
Representing Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL), a national nonprofit with a chapter in Cook County as well as in other locations in Minnesota, George Wilkes laid out the reasons he felt commissioners should support a resolution in favor of a “Carbon Fee and Dividend.”
What is Carbon Fee and Dividend?
According to CCL, Carbon Fee and Dividend (CFD) “is the policy proposal created by CCL to put a federal price on carbon-based fuel so that their consumer cost reflects their true costs to society.”
As Wilkes noted, some strong conservatives favor the CFD proposal. In an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal published Feb. 7, 2017, George P. Schulz and James A. Baker write, “Enacting a carbon tax would free up private firms to find the most efficient ways to cut local emissions.”
Later in their editorial Schulz and Baker suggest CFD offers, “a solution that rests on four pillars. First, creating a gradually increasing carbon tax. Second, returning the tax proceeds to the American people in the form of dividends. Third, establishing border carbon adjustments that protect American competitiveness and encourage other countries to follow suit. And fourth, rolling back government regulations once such a system is in place.”
As Wilkes explained, CFD would gradually increase taxes on companies that leave the largest carbon footprint through a tax on their emissions. This fee would encourage those companies to seek greener alternatives or less polluting solutions when creating and selling their product.
Because costs get passed to consumers, CFD would ensure that tax proceeds would get sent back to the American public at quarterly intervals. A $40 per ton carbon tax would provide a family of four with roughly $2,000 in carbon dividends the first year. This could increase over time as the carbon fee increases.
A reduction in greenhouse gases would strengthen the economy, create jobs in the green energy sector, strengthen national security because the country would not be so dependent upon foreign oil, and it would shrink the size of the government because almost all of the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory authority over carbon emission would be eliminated, said Wilkes.
Last, internationally when companies export products to countries that don’t have a similar carbon fee, those companies would receive rebates on the carbon taxes they have paid. Imports from countries without a similar plan would face carbon fees based on their products. Fees collected from those countries would be retuned to the American public through the carbon dividend program. In short, countries that lack a carbon-reduction policy, which could give them an unfair trade advantage, wouldn’t penalize American companies.
If enacted, studies show that in just 20 years the CFD could reduce carbon emissions to 50 percent of 1990 levels while adding 2.8 million jobs to the American economy.
As Wilkes noted, both the city of Grand Marais and Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission passed a resolution that “recognizes climate change as a threat to the City of Grand Marais and endorsed the CFD with the intent of influencing the congressional delegation to consider the imminently viable climate change solution.
Following his presentation Wilkes asked the commissioners to consider passing a resolution in support of the CFD. That resolution would then be sent to the state’s senators and congressional delegation, who would then hopefully get behind the CFD proposal and make it law.
After a short discussion, commissioners decided to table the CFD discussion and revisit it at an upcoming committee of the whole meeting where they could explore the subject further.
Nordic Nature Group
Olya Wright asked commissioners if they would like the county to form a climate change action plan similar to the one passed earlier this year by the city of Grand Marais.
The Nordic Nature Group (NNG), who, as Wright explained, wants to “Help nature in good ways and take care of the earth,” introduced this plan to city council in February.
NNG works with IMatter, a national group of young people who address climate change issues. Questions were given to city representatives and other people who gather information about waste or pollution occurring in the city, with results of those answers used to determine the report card.
The city was given a D-plus on its IMatter Climate Report Card, but city councilors promised to work with NGG—as long as NGG took the lead— on reducing the city’s carbon footprint.
Commissioners thanked Wright for her presentation and said they would talk about the county’s ability to form a plan to reduce its carbon footprint at a committee of the whole meeting.
Both Wright and Wilkes will be notified of the commissioners’ decisions and both may be in front of the county board at a later date.
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