From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN National Campaign Coordinator
June 28, 2011
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network produces and distributes this periodic policy update on efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). In December, 2009 these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.
Click here to view past Cap and Dividend Policy Updates.
In This Issue:
#1 McClatchy Newspapers story on Maria Cantwell
#2 From the Bangor, Me. Daily News
#3 James Boyce: The Climate Justice Imperative
#4 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article on deficit reduction negotiations
#5 From the Huffington Post: Cap and Trade Is So 2009
#1 McClatchy Newspapers story on Maria Cantwell
“Cantwell said that Congress should not shy from the task just because it’s controversial. She noted that higher fuel standards were approved by lawmakers and are now accepted, despite the howls of protest that came when Congress acted. Besides, she said, if Congress doesn’t eventually put a price on carbon, consumers will continue to be on the losing end. ‘Or to put it more bluntly, the coal-fired electricity user is getting a free ride at the expense of the kid on asthma, or those who depend on a water source not destroyed by a mountaintop removal, or the fisherman whose catch is filled with bio-accumulated mercury,’ she said in a speech in Washington, D.C., last month.“Cantwell said she plans to introduce a version of her carbon-reducing plan again later this year. The last time, it called for the federal government to auction off carbon shares to 2,000 or so fuel producers; the shares would have expired every two years, and over time the government would have offered fewer shares as a way to reduce carbon consumption. Seventy-five percent of the money raised would have been rebated directly to U.S. citizens, offering an average family of four a total of $1,100 a year in tax-free checks.”For the full article go to: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/10/115603/cantwell-aims-to-fix-attention.html
#2 From the Bangor, Maine Daily News
“Iran is instituting what amounts to a dividend to compensate for phasing out inefficient gasoline subsidies. A dividend has been under discussion in Iraq. The CLEAR Act, an alternative cap-and-trade bill supported by Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D- Wash., includes an auction of carbon permits with most of the revenue coming back to American citizens as dividends. Under this bill the vast majority of poor and middle-class American households would be net financial gainers from this approach to reducing our carbon emissions even as the cost of fossil fuel rises”For the full article go to: http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/20/opinion/contributors/alaska’s-permanent-fund-dividend-a-policy-ripe-for-export/?ref=mostReadBox
#3 James Boyce: The Climate Justice Imperative
“A cap on carbon emissions is essential, but instead of giving free permits to polluters – a central plank in ‘cap-and-trade’ schemes – polluters should pay. Permits are valuable: their holders will receive the fossil fuel price increases triggered by the cap. They should be auctioned, not given away, eliminating any need for permit trading. The revenues should be returned to the people as the rightful owners of the atmosphere’s limited carbon-absorptive capacity (or any country’s share of it). The cap-and-dividend climate bill proposed by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wa) and Susan Collins (R-Me) in 2009 would do exactly this, returning 75% of the revenue directly to the public as individual dividends, and devoting the remainder to clean energy investments.For the full article go to: http://triplecrisis.com/the-climate-justice-imperative/#more-3442
#4 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities article on deficit reduction negotiations
“Another approach was the Cantwell-Collins ‘cap-and-dividend’ bill. In each case, the legislation would have put a limit (or ‘cap’) on the overall amount of greenhouse gases — mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels — that could be emitted each year. Electric power plants, oil refineries, and other firms responsible for emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases would be required to hold permits (called ‘allowances’) for the greenhouse gas pollution they emitted. The number of allowances would be capped at an amount below current emissions levels, inducing companies to find ways to reduce their emissions to stay within the established limit.”For the full article go to: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3515
#5 From the Huffington Post: Cap and Trade Is So 2009
“Perhaps Sacramento’s revisiting of cap and trade can shine the light on another approach: climate dividends for everyone. If all the permits are sold (auctioned) to the upstream fossil fuel companies, most of the money raised could be sent back to the public as an equal per capita check every month. The monthly dividend would stimulate consumer spending, create jobs and investment in clean technologies, and address the environmental justice concerns about insiders gaming the trading system. The environmental justice plaintiffs may be pleased to know that this type of dividend could flow from a carbon tax as well. Rather than handouts in a smoke-filled room, the majority of funds would flow back to the people in the light of day. In a world of high unemployment, high gas prices and small budgets, even people who dislike Al Gore might like getting a check in the mail.” For the full article go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-sandler/cap-trade-is-so-2009-time_b_880176.html
CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included. Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org..
