fee and dividend

How To Save The Climate In One Simple Step

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There’s one simple step that will start to turn around around the climate crisis. Price carbon, get industry to pay the cost of their own pollution, and return the money collected to citizens. It can be done – British Columbia has introduced a carbon tax that includes a 15% reduction in the finance minister’s pay if all the money isn’t returned to citizens. And in the five year since the price on carbon was introduced B.C.’s economy has grown more than the rest of Canada and their emissions have decreased.

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/VVZN1GGwya0]

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Citizens’ Climate Lobby is laser-focused on creating the political will for a livable climate, and to empower its volunteers to have breakthroughs in claiming their personal and political power.

“Most impressive is the work of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. If you want to join the fight to save the planet, save creation for your grandchildren, there is no more effective step you could take than becoming an active member of this group.”

Dr. James Hansen, climate scientist, grandfather, and retired head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Click here to learn more about Citizens Climate Lobby or email me, christine@citizensclimatelobby.ca

If you want to join the fight to save the plane

Most impressive is the work of Citizens’ Climate Lobby…
If you want to join the fight to save the planet, to save
cration for your grandchildren, there is no more
effective step you could take than becoming an active
member of this group.

t, to save

creation for your grandchildren, there is no more
effective step you could take than becoming an active
Most impressive is the work of Citizens’ Climate Lobby…
If you want to join the fight to save the planet, to save
creation for your grandchildren, there is no more
effective step you could take than becoming an active

member of this group

Grassroot Activists Gather On Capitol Hill To Lobby For Carbon Tax

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360 citizen lobbyists gather on Capitol Hill to ask for a carbon tax
360 citizen lobbyists gather on Capitol Hill to ask for a carbon tax

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It was no easy feat trying to keep my cool while racing in my high heels between Congressional and Senate offices in the scorching D.C. heat last Tuesday. More than once I wondered about the wisdom of leaving behind the comfortable Red Lake summer to join nearly four hundred other citizen lobbyists from across the U.S. and Canada who were fanned out across Capitol Hill, making the case to U.S. lawmakers that it was time to put a price on carbon pollution. Was all our effort worth it?

After my last appointment of the day, I walked back to the hotel with George, a commercial fisherman from Alaska. He talked about the devastating impact of the warmer and more acidic ocean on his livelihood. As we said goodbye and I gratefully stepped into the air conditioned hotel lobby, my attention fell on the newspaper headlines about Alberta, where people were losing lives as well as homes during that province’s second “100 year” flood in 8 years. I realized then that although my fellow climate lobbyists and I face an uphill battle to get a carbon fee and dividend bill passed, so did David when he and his slingshot faced off against Goliath. And you know how that story turned out. As Nelson Mandela so powerfully said, “It only seems impossible until it’s done.”

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M & C with Dr Jim Hansen. Washington.June 2013
With Dr James Hansen, climate scientist and climate hero. Dr Hansen was a keynote speaker at the CCL International Annual Meeting.

 

Ms Smith Goes To Washington To Lobby For A Price On Carbon Pollution

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Life feels incredibly busy these days; not only is it gardening season, there’s so much happening on the climate front as well as personally that it’s hard to keep up. I’m preparing to travel to Washington DC this weekend, along with my husband and 19 other Canadian climate activists. We’re going to be joining over 330 people from across the United States who are also concerned about the impacts of climate change for future generations, to lobby for a price on carbon pollution. We Canadians are joining our American CCL colleagues in Washington because the issue of climate change has no borders, and because this is an issue that will impact both of our nation’s economies.  Our grassroots organization, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) has over 100 chapters across North America. CCL was formed in 2007 by Grameen Foundation Humanitarian award winner Marshall Saunders, in order to organize and empower citizens to lobby for the political will for a liveable world. CCL volunteers are focusing our lobbying efforts on putting a price on carbon pollution through a carbon fee and dividend.

Cathy Orlando, Canada’s National Manager for CCL feels that it is important for Canadians to lobby in Washington DC because, “the Harper Government has shown us through their actions and in writing that they are intent on aligning Canada’s climate and energy policies with the USA’s policies.”

A recent article over at SkepticalScience.com highlighted Citizens Climate Lobby, and the importance of putting a price on carbon:

Putting a price on carbon emissions is a key climate solution.  Failing to price carbon emissions is effectively a massive subsidy, estimated at about $800 billion per year globally by the International Monetary Fund.  However, that estimate was based on a carbon damages cost that was recently revised upwards by about 50% by the US government, based on up-to-date economic modeling.  Using conservative assumptions, global subsidies for the climate costs of carbon emissions now exceed $1.1 trillion per year, and may be much higher.

The absence of a carbon price to account for those costs is a failure of the free market.  It prevents citizens from making informed purchasing decisions, because the actual costs of the products they buy are not accurately reflected in their market prices.  When it comes to climate costs, American and Canadian consumers are flying blind.  Unfortunately we can’t avoid paying the costs of climate damage forever, and they are reflected in effects like rising food prices when crops are decimated by extreme weather like heat waves and droughts, with contributions from human-caused climate change.  (Click here to read the full article on SkepticalScience.com)

The article included videos featuring two different climate scientists discussing CCL’s effectiveness, which I’m reposting here. Dr James Hansen, recently retired from NASA, is in the first video, and Dr Katherine Hayhoe from Texas Tech University is in the second one:

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/q4DAW1A6Ca8]

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/Jriqi7eN2dI]

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In the midst of all of this week’s busyness came some sad news. A younger cousin of mine who had been struggling with ALS-like symptoms since 2009, passed on earlier this week. Today’s post is dedicated to Rhonda, who will always be an example of courage, grace, and faith in the face of extraordinary challenges. I am humbled by how Rhonda lived her life.

R.I.P Rhonda
R.I.P Rhonda

Save Our Climate Act Introduced in U.S. Congress

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It’s been an interesting few weeks on the climate front in North America. With the backdrop of the “Occupy” movement, there were some small changes introduced that hopefully signal the start of an all-out campaign by our elected officials to tackle this issue head-on. First we had the formation of an all-party Climate Caucus in Ottawa, closely followed by the introduction of a bill in the U.S Congress that would place a fee on carbon. Here’s the response of Citizens Climate Lobby, a group dedicated to creating the political will for a sustainable climate, to the latest news out of Washington:

Citizens Climate Lobby Welcomes The Introduction of U.S. Save Our Climate Act

CORONADO, CALIF. – As the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions grows more evident each week, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) welcomed the introduction of Rep. Pete Stark’s (D-CA) Save Our Climate Act as a critical step in efforts to stop the worst effects of climate change.

“We’re running out of time to wean our nation off the fossil fuels that are heating up the planet,” said CCL’s Executive Director Mark Reynolds. “We need to put a price on carbon that shifts energy usage to clean sources, and that’s what Congressman Stark’s bill does.”

The Save Our Climate Act, H.R. 3242, would tax coal, oil and gas based on the amount of carbon dioxide these fuels would emit when burned. Starting at $10 per ton of CO2, the tax would increase by $10 each year until CO2 emissions fall to 20 percent of 1990 levels. Most of the revenue from the Save Our Climate Act – an estimated $2.6 trillion in the first 10 years – would be returned to U.S. citizens as an annual rebate to offset higher energy costs. A portion of that revenue — $490 billion – would go toward deficit reduction.

“This is a revenue-neutral approach that Republicans should be able to embrace, as it will not increase the size of government,” said Reynolds. “What it WILL do is move massive amounts of investment money toward clean energy, expanding a sector of the economy that shows the most promise for producing the jobs Americans need.”

News of Stark’s legislation was warmly received in Canada. “We applaud Congressman Stark’s leadership on putting a price on carbon to transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy,” says Cathy Orlando, Project Manager for Citizens Climate Lobby Canada. “If successful they will join Australia and British Columbia on taking effective action on climate change and economic development. It’s time that Canada’s federal government also take similar action.”

The controversy surrounding the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra has eroded U.S. support for government programs that subsidize clean energy. The Citizens Climate Lobby believes that a clear, predictable price signal on carbon will send private investors to wind, solar and other alternative technologies, reducing the need for government funding for emerging companies.

“When it comes to clean energy, we don’t want to kill the goose that’s laying the golden eggs in our economy. But perhaps somebody besides the federal government can feed the goose, and that’s what we’ll accomplish with a price on carbon,” said Reynolds.

More links:

BUILDING A GREEN ECONOMY: The Economics of Carbon Pricing Carbon & the Transition to Clean, Renewable Fuels

Citizens Climate Lobby, U.S.

Citizens Climate Lobby, Canada