From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director
October 19, 2010
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). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.
To view past Cap and Dividend Policy Updates go to: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/template/page.cfm?id=548
In This Issue
Common Dreams: “Notes on Environmental Communication,” by George Lakoff: “Support the Cantwell-Collins CLEAR ACT now. Every adult citizen gets a significant financial dividend as the carbon pollution is cleaned up. There are only a couple of thousand distribution points for carbon fuels in America, and they are already monitored. To sell polluting fuels, each company would have to buy dumping permits for the pollution to be dumped into the air. The number of permits would be reduced each year, cleaning the air and producing a market in permits. The permit money would go, three-quarters to adult citizens equally, and one-quarter to alternative fuel development and repairing previous environmental destruction. Most people will make money, even if fuel prices go up. That money will be spent and will create jobs all over the nation. The bill is 39 pages long. Read it.”
For the full article go to: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/28
Yes! Magazine: “A Climate Bill That Can Pass,” by Peter Barnes: “The CLEAR Act, a.k.a. cap and dividend, has the potential to attract Republicans because it’s the opposite of a tax¬¬—it makes most Americans financially better off. Moreover, it’s entirely market-based: it raises carbon prices but keeps government out of the dicey and costly role of picking winners. Best of all, its cap-and-cash-back mechanism can be easily understood by skeptical American voters.”
For the full article go to: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/a-resilient-community/clear-act-a-climate-bill-that-can-pass
Huffington Post: “Climate Solutions from Climate Deniers?,” by Keith Harrington: “Hopefully, this time around, lawmakers won’t waste any more precious time promoting their dead-end climate prescriptions. Instead, maybe they’ll wake up to the real post-partisan solutions — solutions like Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins’ (R-Maine) cap-and-dividend bill, the CLEAR Act, which even in the current political climate has a much better chance at passing, and certainly has a much better chance to put the brakes on climate change than the AEI-Brookings blueprint.”
For the full article go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-harrington/postpartisan-bunk-climate_b_765471.html
The New Yorker: “As the World Burns,” by Ryan Lizza: “Another prospect was Susan Collins, the other Republican from Maine. She was the co-sponsor of a separate climate bill, with Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington. Their bill, known as “cap-and-dividend”—the government would cap carbon emissions and use revenue from polluters to compensate taxpayers for energy-rate hikes—gained some environmental support. Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman believed that the bill was unworkable and was stealing valuable attention from their effort. They spent months trying to figure out how to kill it and win over Collins. Eventually, Graham and Lieberman’s offices devised a ruse: they would adopt a crucial part of the Cantwell-Collins bill on market regulation in the official bill. Then they would quietly swap it out as the legislation made its way to the Senate floor. Collins, however, never budged.”
For the full article go to: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_lizza?printable=true
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. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.
