Earth Day movement continues with call to action on climate

By MARK REYNOLDS and JOHN GAGE
As we observe Earth Day on April 22, let’s take a moment to reflect on the power of the grassroots movement behind that first celebration in 1970, which led to dramatic changes that improved the quality of our lives through cleaner air and water.

Shocked by the massive oil spill that fouled the beaches of Santa Barbara, California, in 1969, Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson organized the first Earth Day the following spring. The response was overwhelming: 20 million Americans turned out to show their support for cleaning up the environment.

Today, a similar movement is building for Congress to enact measures to preserve a livable climate for future generations. Across the country, volunteers of the grassroots, nonpartisan group Citizens’ Climate Lobby

(CCL) have conducted more than 1,000 outreach events in their local communities this year, including right here in New Hampshire. CCL volunteers have also held more than 250 meetings with their members of Congress, asking them to support a new bipartisan climate solution called the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763 — energyinnovationact.org).

Thousands of economists across the political spectrum have said the most effective step we can take to bring down the emissions causing climate change is to put a fully-rebated, steadily increasing fee on fossil fuel production based on the carbon content of the fuel sold. When all the money collected from the fee paid by fossil fuel producers is rebated to all households equally as a dividend each month, those economists say, our purchasing power will be protected and the economy will benefit. The Energy Innovation Act does just that. It is:

Effective: the carbon price will drive U.S. emissions reductions of at least 40 percent in the first 12 years and 90 percent by 2050.

Good for people: It will improve health and save lives. Additionally, the carbon dividend puts money directly into all people’s pockets equally.

Good for the economy: the extra spending this enables from low-income households will create over 2 million new jobs.

Good for business: a steadily increasing price on climate pollution will focus US investors and innovators on developing products and solutions that will enable us to lead the global clean energy transition.

Bipartisan: Republicans and Democrats are both on board as cosponsors.

Revenue neutral: The government keeps none of the money, so the size of the government will not grow.

A global solution: border carbon adjustments will protect US jobs and strongly encourage all other countries to match our carbon price.

This legislation is garnering support from institutions and groups that have the ear of elected officials.

From the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

“At a time when the dangerous effects of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, the need for legislative solutions like this is more urgent than ever.”

From Trout Unlimited:

“Just as we learned in the 1990s that we had to move from the stream to the watershed scale to recover trout and salmon, we must reduce carbon emissions to slow climate change. For this reason, Trout Unlimited is supporting passage of common sense legislation such as the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The time for band-aids is past.” 

Many members of Congress realize the “time for band-aids is past,” and thirty of them have taken action by cosponsoring the Energy Innovation Act.

Given the impact of climate change we’re seeing here in New Hampshire, from sea level rise to ticks, and from shorter snow seasons to more severe precipitation and flooding events, we hope that Reps. Ann Kuster and Chris Pappas will cosponsor H.R. 763. We also hope that Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan will support similar legislation in the Senate.

Following the outpouring of support for the first Earth Day, Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to enact policies that protected the environment and made our lives better. Likewise, we can each show our support now to help all members of Congress work together to enact effective policies to protect the Earth’s climate for ourselves and for posterity. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act offers the opportunity for that much needed bipartisan collaboration.

 

Mark Reynolds is executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, an international grassroots environmental group that trains and supports volunteers to build relationships with their elected representatives in order to influence climate policy. John Gage is the author of “Why We Need a Carbon Fee and Dividend” and an enterprise integration architectat Oracle Corporation.