Washington Wire/Carbon Tax with Dividend!

From our friends at Better World Club who always send us great updates and material.  Let us know what you think on the Carbon Tax.

Carbon Tax with Dividend!  Better World Club's Stance Shared by the American Sustainable Business Council.

Well...BWC Is on the ASBC Board of Directors.
 

Also Shared by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) who Has Introduced It in the Senate.

 

As the risks of climate change become clearer, the need grows for comprehensive action to cut carbon pollution. By far the simplest and most effective action we can take is to institute a nationally-administered, economy-wide carbon tax. If implemented correctly, this would result in dramatic carbon dioxide reductions and create a market-based transition to clean, renewable energy.

A carbon tax fixes an inherent marketplace flaw:  the marketplace does not force corporations producing "externalities" (i.e. carbon) to assume the cost of the harm they do. 

Carbon is even a bit tricky--it requires a high tax beyond the cost of clean up because short-term clean up just doesn't recognize the long-term costs.

So, it is important that there be a dividend back to the American people of the tax beyond the cost of clean-up.  The real impact of the tax is to adjust the cost of fossil fuels.  Americans will still have roughly the same amount of money, but with the higher cost of fossil fuels, alternative energy becomes more attractive. (The government might even be able to stop subsidizing the development of alternative energy.)
 

Check out the American Sustainable Business Council's Petition in support of a carbon tax--and add your voice--HERE