For argument’s sake, let’s say a truck went off the road and spilled dangerous pesticides all over your yard. It would be a tragedy all right, but at least the driver or his company would have to pay for cleanup and any damages to you.

Now, let’s pretend that someone was contaminating the air you breathe and the planet you live on. Shouldn’t they also contribute to the cleanup and damages?

That is the logic behind “carbon fee and dividend” — a proposal that is gaining popularity as people look for efficient, effective ways to address climate change. The idea is simple. A carbon fee is placed on fossil fuels at the point of extraction, making producers pay their fair share of the air pollution and greenhouse gases that will be generated from the fossil fuel extracted.

Then the collected fees are distributed, by a method to be determined, as a dividend back to all Americans – you and me–money in the bank!

The idea of a carbon fee and dividend is catching on as people from all political persuasions are supporting it as the best way to fairly address the negative consequences of fossil fuels. Most recently, three senior Republican statesmen—former White House Chief of Staff James Baker; former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; and former Secretary of State George Shultz—came out in favor of the idea. As Paulson noted, a carbon fee and dividend is a “fundamentally conservative [solution] that will empower the marketplace to find the most efficient response… Putting a price on emissions will create incentives to develop new, cleaner energy technologies.” So yes, business friendly.

This is important because the cost to society from fossil fuels is enormous and the damage will last for generations. Both climate change and ocean acidification, which is also caused by the carbon dioxide of fossil fuels, are threatening Maine’s environment and economy in many ways.

For one, warmer temperatures from fossil fuels have allowed invasive species to thrive (green crabs, brown tail moths and red pine scale) and helped existing pests survive (ticks, balsam woolly adelgid, etc.). The warmer waters have caused the collapse of cod, and lobsters are migrating north. Meanwhile summer heat and drought have hurt our agriculture, stressed our pine trees, and increased the rates of allergies and asthma.

For two, increased acidity in the ocean is threatening our fisheries, especially creatures with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, including mollusks, crabs, and corals. Soft-shell clam harvests are at one-fourth of what they were 40 years ago, largely due to ocean acidity. We haven’t seen the tornadoes, floods and hurricanes of other states, but should climate change get worse, there’s no telling.

The beauty of the proposed carbon fee and dividend is that it is revenue neutral as a whole, yet allows individuals a freedom of choice. Individuals can spend the redistributed fees however they like. Many people could save money, depending on what they purchase.

The exact fee to be placed on carbon has yet to be determined but a study by Regional Economic Models, Inc. calculated that 53 percent of households would receive more than they spent; and the average gain would be $192 per month above what the household paid in higher expenditures because of the carbon fee. Low-income households were projected to receive more than wealthier households, creating a progressive system.

More jobs for Maine. With over than half of households getting money back and with lower and middle income households benefitting most, there would be an increase in consumer spending. More spending, more jobs. Health care, retail and services are projected to grow the most while mining and utilities would see some decline. On balance, however, the stimulus from extra household income would create 2.1 million new jobs in the U.S. after 10 years, including about 100,000 new jobs in the Northeast.

Around the country, municipalities are passing resolutions in support of a carbon fee and dividend. These include places as diverse as Fayetteville, Arkansas, Berkeley, and Philadelphia. Now it is time for Maine communities to join the chorus and pass similar resolutions of support for this concept.

For more information about the concept, you can visit the Citizens Climate Change website at: http://citizensclimatelobby.org/ or join the local chapter.

Marcia Harrington is a member of Citizens Climate Lobby Brunswick