Most of us are so tired of depressing news on climate that we blow it off, not owning up that we have a personal responsibility to act. Yet the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is predicted to get us emissions reductions of 40 percent by 2030. Hopeful news! But how to get the reduction of the additional 10 percent that could keep the worldwide temperature increase well under 2 percent and begin to rein in global heating?

Consider a snowstorm analogy. Our vehicle is stuck in a fossil fuel rut. The incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act designed to get us off fossil fuels are our snow tires. We put our foot on the gas, and they grip the road, but not quite enough. We need a push from behind. A burly walker comes along, gives us a hefty push and we get out of the rut.

Imposing a fee on carbon will be the push that the Inflation Reduction Act needs to help us avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the stick that will propel Americans more quickly toward the Inflation Reduction Act’s carrots. We can follow Canada’s example and return the proceeds of the fee to all American citizens on an equal basis. With enough pressure on Congress, we can actually get this done.

Write your members of Congress and tell them we need a fee on fossil fuels, and we need it now. Give our grandchildren and the poor around the world a fighting chance.​ It’s up to us.

Sam Saltonstall
Brunswick

Copy the Story Link