Solution to aid planet

Matthew Thompson wrote a timely and well-written letter that was published in the Democrat-Gazette on April 9, “Act on climate change.” What was missing was a rational way to control the cause of this most serious threat.

The transition to clean energy is of course what is considered an obvious solution, but it alone will take too long to be able to reverse the deterioration of the atmosphere in time to prevent the melting of the polar ice, acidification of the oceans, rising sea levels and flooding of our coastal cities.

So, what’s the answer? In 2013, Citizens Climate Education Corp. commissioned Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) to study the effect of a revenue-neutral carbon price on the American economy. Chosen for its track record of providing analysis to both governmental bodies and the fossil fuel corporations, REMI’s analysis concluded that such a system would have strong positive economic effects on the nation’s health and prosperity alike. This study was reaffirmed in 2017 by the Center for Climate Strategies.

REMI’s analysis concluded that, during the first 20 years alone, a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy would lead to a 50 percent reduction of carbon emissions below 1990 levels; the addition of 2.8 million jobs above baseline, driven by the steady economic stimulus of the energy dividend; and the avoidance of 230,000 premature deaths due to reduction in air pollutants that often accompany carbon emissions.

CHARLES SISCO

Fayetteville