The Maine Climate Council is currently accepting comments on a draft Climate Action Plan. It may be that this highest-leveraged action would be simply to speak up for carbon pricing.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is an international body made up of hundreds of policymakers, scientists and economists. The IPCC has made it clear that the most effective first step for countries to control climate change is to price carbon.

Markets are much more powerful than regulations in creating change. Pricing carbon accelerates all the Maine Climate Council’s action strategies. However, pricing carbon must serve ordinary people and the economy.

The most effective way to price carbon is to put a steadily rising fee on carbon fuels at a national level, returning the funds to households, and with a border-adjustment to protect American markets. This approach can rapidly reduce emissions while creating jobs and putting money in the pockets of the average citizen. More than 3,500 economists, including 27 Nobel laureates, have endorsed this approach. To work, such a policy needs to be bipartisan and the law of the land.

This means Congress must act. Citizens Climate Lobby would like the Climate Council to co-sign a resolution, with the Legislature and governor, and present it to our members of Congress. Our members of Congress are at the forefront of congressional action, but they need input from both the electorate and the leaders of the electorate.

Wes Tator
Kittery

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