It’s time to act on climate change with carbon fees on fossil fuels

For decades, scientists have been warning us that climate change is likely to raise the risk and severity of wildfires. Climate deniers scoffed.

Now, as you reported (“It’s simple: Global warming worsens wildfires,” Aug. 19), scientists have enough hard data to add certainty to that prediction. The American West is burning up, wildfires are becoming increasingly worse due in large part to global warming, and scientists can now proudly announce that they have numbers.

Guess what? Climate deniers scoff more loudly than before.

Can we see a pattern here? We’ve known for 200 years that a buildup of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels throws off the energy balance of our world, but no amount of scientific evidence will convince those who have financial or ideological motives to reject it.

Instead of more arguing, we need to simply act.

The only durable way to correct this imbalance is to put an honest price on carbon that reflects the damage caused by dumping CO2 into the atmosphere. If a carbon fee that rises annually is collected where coal, oil, or gas leave the ground, and that money is then recycled back to households in equal shares, basic economics tells us it will supercharge investment in climate-friendly alternatives and energy efficiency while protecting those with low and modest incomes from having to shoulder the burden of cleaning up our energy systems.

In spite of the Trump administration’s open hostility to climate policy, there are some in Congress — in both parties — who now realize that we’ve run out of time. Carbon pricing plans are getting quiet but serious consideration, and all Americans should be prepared to support them when the climate deniers launch their attacks — which they most certainly will. Send letters to letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.