As White House rolls back climate rules, Congress must step in
EarthDay arrives this year with serious questions about America’s commitment to preserve the environment and limit the risks posed by climate change. That’s because on March 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and other Obama-era initiatives to reduce pollution that drives globalwarming.
Without the CPP, theU.S. is unlikely to meet its commitment to the Paris climate accord, a tremendous setback in global efforts to keep temperatures fromwarming more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Crossing the 2C threshold, scientistswarn, will lead to catastrophic consequences including food shortages, coastal flooding, epidemics, mass migrations, and destabilized nations. Climate consequences are already palpable here in South Florida, especially on seasonal king tide days where rising seas lap at the doorsteps of coastal residents and businesses. Sea level rise threatens more than $3 trillion of South Florida assets— more than any other metropolitan area on Earth. Plus, thewarming climate is stimulating stronger hurricanes, cooking our coral reefs, and facilitating the spread of tropical diseases like Zika.
Fortunately, regional leaders are taking climate threats very seriously. Four counties and more than 30 municipalities have joined the Southeast Florida Climate Compact, agreeing to concerted action to reduce emissions and adapt to impacts. This leadership has proceeded despite Tallahassee’s climate gag orders, environmental budget cuts, and legislative inability to cleanly implement pro-solar Amendment 4 (approved by 73 percent of Florida voters last August).
To avoid catastrophic climate impactswe need action at local, state, and federal levels. With the executive branch now shirking all responsibility to dealwith climate change, Congress must step into the breach. Congress can enable America to meet its Paris commitment —and then some— by passing a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy: a steadily rising fee on carbon with revenue returned to households.
Itworks like this: a fee is assessed on the carbon dioxide content of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) starting at $15 per ton of CO2 and increasing by $10 per ton each year. This steady increase sends a powerful signal to the marketplace that moves investments and behavior toward clean energy and efficiency. Revenue is returned equally to all households, shielding families fromthe economic impact of the carbon fee, with many households actually coming out ahead. A study released in 2014 by Regional EconomicModels, Inc., found that after 20 years, the policywould cut CO2 emissions by half and add 2.8million jobs to the economy.
What are the chances that a Republican-controlled Congress will consider climate legislation? Much better than most people realize.
South Florida’s own Carlos Curbelo (R-District 26) and Ted Deutch (D-District 22) founded the bipartisanHouse Climate Solutions Caucus, which nowhas 38 members, 19 of them from the GOP side of the aisle. The Caucus is a place free of the toxic rhetoric surrounding the climate issue, where equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats come together to listen to one another, share ideas, and find common ground for effective solutions to climate change.
This EarthDay, aswe South Floridians reflect on the health of our planet and the future livability of our own hometowns, we can feel grateful for local leadership in confronting climate change. We and all Americans should be alarmed by the Trump administration’s callous disregard for the threat of globalwarming. Fortunately, we have another branch of the federal government that can correct Trump’s misguided policies. By enacting a fee on carbon with revenue returned to households, Congress can avert disaster, create jobs, and reassertU.S. leadership on the greatest global challenge of our time.
Mark Reynolds is executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. RebeccaHarvey is a volunteer with the Boca Raton chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.