Citizens Climate Lobby working to fix climate change
The Citizens Climate Lobby is working to push a bill through Congress to help solve climate change.
On Wednesday, a member of the lobby spoke at the Democratic Party political luncheon in Pocatello about its suggested solution.
The goal is to promote the use of renewable energy sources and reduce the use of fossil fuels.
The CCL believes one way to do that is “carbon tax and dividend.” That means placing a tax on carbon and making fossil fuels more expensive. The more expensive fuels are, the less they would be used.
The CCL said there are three key points to doing this. The first is to increase a fee on fossil fuels at the source, like mines, wells, ports, etc. The second part would be making sure to return revenue from fuels back to the people to pay higher costs. And the third part would be to focus on imports and exports. It calls for a border adjustment with countries without equivalent pricing on carbon. Currently, the U.S. is the only country without an import fee on carbon.
Linda Engle, the member of the CCL who spoke at the luncheon, said by placing the revenue back into the hands of the people, it’s more money for spending. And spending puts money back into circulation and helps stimulate the economy.
Engle said ultimately, the goal of the CCL is to educate people about the topic and encourage them to push their elected officials for support in the legislature.
“Citizens climate lobby encourages people to step out of their comfort zones and do something to make a difference,” Engle said. “We encourage you to learn about citizens climate lobby, to go online and learn about what can be done, this problem is a big one.”
Engle said so far progressives and conservatives support the idea.
A study by the Regional Economic Modeling, Inc. has been done to show the benefits of this idea.
Citizens Climate Lobby is a national organization started in 2007. It has close to 50,000 members worldwide. The Pocatello chapter has only been running since August.
More information can be found on the national website. People can also contact the Pocatello chapter at pocatello@citizensclimatelobby.org for information on local meetings and membership.
