How
to Solve the Climate Problem
"Fee-and-Dividend"
"... In this method, a fee is collected at the mine or port
of entry for each fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas), i.e., at its
first sale in the country.
The fee is uniform, a single number, in dollars per ton of carbon
dioxide in the fuel. The public does not directly pay any fee or
tax,
but the price of the goods they buy increases in proportion to how
much fossil fuel is used in their production. Fuels such as gasoline
or heating oil, along with electricity made from coal, oil or gas,
are affected directly by the carbon fee, which is set to increase
over time.
The carbon fee will rise gradually so that the public will have
time to adjust their lifestyle, choice of vehicle, home insulation,
etc.,
so as to minimize their carbon footprint. Under fee-and-dividend,
100 percent of the money collected
from the fossil fuel companies ... is distributed uniformly
to the public.
... The fee-and-dividend approach is straightforward. It does not
require a large bureaucracy. The total amount collected each month
is divided equally among all legal adult residents of the country,
with half shares for children, up to two children per family.
This dividend is sent electronically to bank accounts, or for people
without a bank account, to their debit card. ..."
Dr.
James E. Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space
Studies
pdf:
James Hansen on Cap & Trade vs Fee & Dividend
June 19, 2014
pdf:
Summary of “The Economic, Climate, Fiscal, Power, and
Demographic Impact of a National Fee-and-Dividend Carbon Tax”
Hansen:
Testimony to the US House of Representatives, Carbon Tax & 100%
Dividend vs. Tax & Trade, Feb 25, 2009
Hansen:
Cap and Fade, Dec 6, 2009
"... Once again, lobbyists are providing the real leadership
on climate change legislation. Under the proposed law, some permits
to pollute would be handed out free; and much of the money actually
collected from permits would be used to pay for boondoggles like
“clean coal” research. The House and Senate energy bills would only
assure continued coal use, making it implausible that carbon dioxide
emissions would decline sharply. If that isn’t bad enough, Wall
Street is poised to make billions of dollars in the “trade” part
of cap-and-trade. The market for trading permits to emit carbon
appears likely to be loosely regulated, to be open to speculators
and to include derivatives. All the profits of this pollution trading
system would be extracted from the public via increased energy prices.
There is a better alternative, one that would be more efficient
and less costly than cap and trade: “fee and dividend.”
Hansen:
How to Solve the Climate Problem, Dec 30, 2009
The
Climate Lobby – Fee and Dividend, Carbon Fee and Dividend –
The most important petition in the world
Hansen:
Climate change is happening now – a carbon price
must follow,
Nov 29, 2012
We have warmed our climate by almost 1.5C over land areas in the
past century, most of that in the past 30 years. The latent heat
in atmospheric water vapour is the fuel that powers tornadoes, thunderstorms,
and hurricanes. Sandy, extreme droughts and wildfires, intense rainstorms,
record-breaking melting of Arctic sea ice, ...
The answer is a price on carbon. We must make
the price of fossil fuels honest, reflecting their cost to society
including the economic devastation wrought by storms like Sandy,
the toll on farmland and ecosystems, as well as priceless human
lives. Whether that price takes the shape of a carbon tax, as some
in Washington are now willing to discuss, or a carbon
fee, as I have advocated, a price on carbon lets the market
find the most effective ways to phase out our reliance on fossil
fuels. It also moves us to a sustainable energy future where energy
choices are made by individuals and communities, not by Washington
mandates and lobbyists. A carbon fee, collected from fossil fuel
companies, will increase consumer costs. So the money
that is collected should be distributed to the public. As
people try to minimise their energy costs to keep money for other
things, their actions will stimulate the economy, drive innovations
and transition us away from fossil fuels.
Der
Präsident des Instituts für Weltwirtschaft (IFW), Prof. Dennis Snower,
hat einen