Slap a fee on fossil fuels and the world’s climate will improve immediately

One of my favorite childhood stories was of the Dutch boy who saved his community by standing steadfastly all night long with his finger plugged in a leaking dike. A Sun-Times editorial on Aug. 19 points to two new leaks in the national dike protecting our climate.

Fortunately, we don’t have to stand all night trying to plug the dike, waiting for help. We already have the analysis of climate scientists that greenhouse gas emissions are at the core of the climate crisis. We also have their recommendation that a national price on carbon could play a critical role in transitioning our economy to clean energy. We can act now.

The bipartisan Energy Innovation Act puts a price on carbon. By imposing a rising fee on fossil fuels, it would reduce CO2 emissions by 40% in just 12 years.

While the bill won’t plug all the leaks in our efforts to mitigate climate change, it would place such efforts on a more solid foundation. Congressional legislation is more difficult to gore than executive orders. My representative in Congress, Jan Schakowsky, is a cosponsor of this bill. Is your representative a cosponsor? Laura Winston, Evanston