Thank you for highlighting the dire threats Maine faces from climate change. We need to do more than just adapt, however: We must also reduce our use of fossil fuels.

Putting a price on carbon uses the power of the market to reduce fossil fuel use. It is gaining support among business leaders; state, local, and national representatives; and Nobel prize-winning economists.

Gregory Morrow (“Letter to the editor: Carbon tax makes things more costly,” Jan. 28) raises objections to a “carbon tax”: He cites increased costs of energy, economic hardship for those on fixed or low incomes, and putting us at a disadvantage to China and India.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, recently introduced in Congress, overcomes these objections:

n All net revenues will be returned to U.S. residents on a per-person basis, in the form of dividend checks. Fifty-eight percent of individuals will get back more than they pay in fees, with poorer people being more likely to benefit.

n The fees will start low and increase gradually, allowing time for adjustments.

n The fees will provide incentives to promote clean energy and reduce its costs. Good jobs in renewable energy will be created and more money will stay in the state, instead of going to oil-producing areas.

n A border adjustment will protect U.S. manufacturers selling to countries without a carbon price. (China, in fact, now has nationwide carbon pricing, and India is moving in this direction.)

Worldwide, weather disasters, intensified by global warming, cost $344 billion in 2017. Without action, this cost will just keep rising. Maine alone can’t prevent global warming, but we can support national carbon pricing.

Susan Payne

Cape Elizabeth

Copy the Story Link