Cap and Dividend Policy Update #22
From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director
December 20, 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.
In This Issue:
#1 Carbon is Forever: new video spoofs James Bond to make a serious point about the best way to curb climate change
#2 Council on the Environment and Jewish Life supports CLEAR Act
#3 Next 10 study shows economy benefits most from cap and dividend system, by David A. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
#4 More on Next 10 study: The grand experiment, by Cosmo Garvin, Sacramento News and Review
#5 Laboratories for energy and the environment, by Christine Herzog
#6 Stop free pollution: going beyond cap and trade, by James K. Boyce
#7 Bill McKibben interview: “Meaningful action will come the day [the federal government] passes a price on carbon.”
#8 Cap and Dividend and property rights
#1 Carbon is Forever: new video spoofs James Bond to make a serious point about the best way to curb climate change
“Following the collapse of cap-and-trade legislation in the U.S. Senate, interest is shifting to a bipartisan cap-and-dividend bill co-sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Meanwhile, in Britain, a similar plan called cap-and-share is gaining momentum. It’s identical to cap and dividend except that, instead of cash dividends, people would receive “shares” that they could sell to fossil fuel companies for cash. Last week, the British campaigners released a brilliant James Bond-themed video explaining their plan:”
http://www.onthecommons.org/carbon-forever
#2 Council on the Environment and Jewish Life supports CLEAR Act
“By Advocating for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Green Jobs, Increased Energy Independence, and Environmental Protection. COEJL supported the CLEAR Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, and build a green economy;”
For the full document go to:
http://www.coejl.org/COEJL_Report_Building_Jewish_Energy_December_2010.pdf
#3 Next 10 study shows economy benefits most from cap and dividend system, by David A. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
“The economy would fare best, however, if all the allowances were auctioned and the money were returned to Californians either as income tax relief or an annual dividend check. Giving away the allowances at first would benefit energy-intensive companies, but wouldn’t give as big a boost to the economy as a whole. ‘If you recycle the revenues to households, households would tend to spend a lot of that money on goods and services,’ said Richard Morgenstern, a senior fellow with the Resources for the Future think tank, who co-wrote one of the reports. ‘Channeling the money to the energy-intensive industries may help them, but it doesn’t give you as much bang for the buck as channeling it to people who are going to spend it.’”
For the full article go to:
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2010/12/09/poll-most-californians-support-plan-for-a-carbon-trading-market/
#4 More on Next 10 study: The grand experiment, by Cosmo Garvin, Sacramento News and Review
“The Next 10 study found that if the state were to auction off the allowances and return the revenue to taxpayers (through tax breaks or dividend checks), California would net 109,000 jobs. Not that many to be sure. But by giving the allowances away, California will actually lose a net of 120,000 jobs. That’s because under either scenario, there will be some cost to businesses to comply, and some job loss. But a ‘cap-and-dividend’ program would create a powerful economic stimulus. Citizens would receive the economic benefit of the cap-and-trade system. ‘And they are going to turn around and spend it in the California economy, and churn up economic activity,’ Burtraw explained.
For the full article go to: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1890538
#5 Laboratories for energy and the environment, by Christine Herzog
“Now that Proposition 23 has been shellacked, the California Air Resources Board is also moving forward to implement a cap-and-trade program in 2012 based on Assembly Bill 32 (AB32). If the proceeds from this cap and trade program would be disbursed to all California citizens – an idea known as cap and dividend, that would make the program hugely popular, and a laboratory experiment that would get the attention of many other states.”
For the full article go to:
http://theenergycollective.com/christine-hertzog/48510/laboratories-energy-and-environment
#6 Stop free pollution: going beyond cap and trade, by James K. Boyce
“Cap-and-dividend is founded on the principle that the air and water belong to all of us. The policy has several attractions. It provides incentives to cut pollution and drives investment in clean technologies. It protects working families from the impact of price increases resulting from permits on their purchasing power. Most important, by delinking environmental policy from the contentious issue of taxes it just might be a politically viable way to stop the travesty of free pollution.”
For the full article go to: http://triplecrisis.com/stop-free-pollution-going-beyond-cap-and-trade/
#7 Bill McKibben interview: “Meaningful action will come the day [the federal government] passes a price on carbon.”
To view the short video interview go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz7cAtLuX_g&feature=youtube_gdata
#8 Cap and Dividend and property rights
“[Cap-and-dividend] would be more just and politically less controversial than when government is cashing in (effectively imposing a kind of tax). It would reflect the actual property rights better. And it is unlikely to lose any of the benefits from the other two alternatives (cap-and-giveaway-and-trade and cap-and-auction-and-trade) it builds on. The only problem I see is in convincing some people (especially conservative thinking ones) that
this is not socialism, but the only reasonable opportunity.”
For the full article go to: http://zielonygrzyb.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/cap-and-dividend/
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.
