Fueling Change
The fossil fuel industry is heavily subsidized, and for good reason. Globally, this totals $500 billion in subsidies to keep the cost of oil, gas and coal low.
If subsidies were to diminish rapidly, households would bear the true cost of heating their homes, driving their cars and powering their lifestyles. It would cause mayhem and affect the poorest households most, those already living on shoestring budgets.
We need affordable energy. We also need it to be healthy for our community's use. Fossil fuels have a negative externality: emissions. They hurt our health, especially during inversion months, but they also have externalities beyond our local communities. This includes national security (the U.S. military considers climate change a "threat multiplier") and an unpredictable climate that will cost billions in natural disasters, cleanup and rebuilding.
So how do we go about eliminating these issues and go about funding the progress needed to make it happen? We can do what we've done for so long with our energy—subsidize it. How do we do this? Enter carbon pricing.
By setting a price on carbon, we can fund our energy future. A carbon fee and dividend bill has already been discussed—the idea being that we charge a fee to the highest carbon users to reduce fossil fuel use and pay a dividend out to the American people to mitigate increased energy costs.
Alternatively, in lieu of spurring market growth through a check to the people, like the recent stimulus checks, why not put the money directly back into the investment of our energy? This will spur rapid development, create new U.S.-based jobs and ensure our energy needs are met in a healthier manner.
A carbon fee can subsidize renewable energy investment and save the American people on energy costs by owning their power.
Carbon pricing is not a new idea. It's a discussion economists have been having for some time and a policy that has already been enacted in several countries. We need to make the transition to renewables happen quickly and affordably. Solar, wind and geothermal energy—to name a few alternatives—can power our economy in a cleaner and healthier way than 20th-century fossil fuels.
We live in a world of technological advancement. The most logical next step is to modernize our energy systems. Renewables will improve our air, economy and communities. Renewables reduce our reliance on foreign governments and allow us to produce our energy locally. The technology has become viable and has reached the efficiency levels of fossil fuels.
The true cost of fossil fuels will continue to rise as the ability to reach and extract oil, gas and coal becomes more complex and costly. Whereas the cost of renewables is decreasing as we scale through deployment. We need to help spur the growth of renewables now, even as the cost may seem higher.
Let's create healthier communities by subsidizing not fossil fuels, but renewable energy. Power to the people!
TOM MAGNUSON
Salt Lake City
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