MCA members hear presentation about Carbon Free and Dividend Proposal Act
At this month’s Matlacha Civic Association meeting, Joseph Bonasia, outreach coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, presented the case for citizen support of the Carbon Free and Dividend Proposal Act of 2019 (HR 763).
The bill proposes a fee on carbon at the point of extraction to encourage market-driven innovation of clean energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The fees are recycled to citizens in monthly dividends.
“Competition in the marketplace should not be between a company wasting the environment and one that is trying to save it,” Bonasia said. “Competition should be between companies that can do the best job in restoring and preserving the environment.”
Bonasia made a comparison between his sons eco-friendly farming and farmers that produce less healthy, less eco-friendly products. Bonasia suggests a Pigovian tax to rectify imbalances in the cost of goods. That tax would be applied to the less eco-friendly farmer to “balance” the cost to the consumer.
Pigovian taxes are named after English economist Arthur Cecil Pigou (18771959) who also developed the concept of economic externalities.
“Hurricane Irma was the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic and one of the most powerful to hit land,” Bonasia said. “It caused $50 billion in damages. Fossil fuels did not create Irma but they made her a heck of a lot more powerful. I have never heard of any fossil fuel company offering to pay any of those costs we paid for the damage Irma caused!”
According to Bonasia, Florida will face the damage of rising seas and retreating shores, coral reefs and ocean acidification; damage to water resources and the Everglades, agriculture and human health; and increased heat and mosquitoes.
“Look at all of the coastline of Florida,” Bonasia said. “As sea levels come up, it’s going to be an economic disaster. In California the wildfires and the droughts, in Montana the glaciers are disappearing. In Texas, so much rain came down I think NOAA had to come up with new categories to measure it.”
Bonasia suggests placing a fee on fossil fuels at the source in the amount of $15 per metric ton of CO2. Every year thereafter the fee would increase by $10 per metric ton.
“The cost of fossil fuels would keep rising as they better reflect the costs of environment degradation, health costs, etc., and those costs will be passed along to you,” Bonasia said. “The price at the pump is going to go up.”
Under the bill the fees collected by the government would go into a carbon dividend trust fund and then sent to every American monthly in a full share for every adult and a half share every child.
“Depending on what study you read, anywhere from 66% to 75% of the United States population will end up with more money in your pocket because of these dividends,” Bonasia said.
Bonasia and Citizens’ Climate Lobby believe the passage of the bill will level the playing field by promoting renewable energy, motivate businesses towards efficiency and conservation, motivate families towards the same and spur American innovation and ingenuity.
House Bill 763 was introduced by Florida Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch to the House Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce; Foreign Affairs on Jan. 24, 2019, and was referred to the Subcommittee on Energy the following day.
The bill is also supported in the House of Representatives by Florida Democrats Charlie Crist, Alcee Hastings and Al Lawson. Rep. Tom Rooney is the only Republican to support the bill.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change.
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In other business, the Matlacha Civic Association board voted to donate $500 to Linda Joseph’s son, Anthony, for a brain injury suffered when he was struck by a vehicle while working as a flagman on Pine Island Road two weeks ago.