In a recent Op-Ed, “A Litmus Test for the Climate,” James Boyce, of the Political Economy Research Institute, articulated the case for the most effective way to address the climate emergency: “clamping a hard ceiling on the total fossil carbon we let into the nation’s economy and ratchet it down year by year.”

Boyce acknowledges that doing so will inevitably increase fossil fuel prices for consumers, but that increase can be offset by placing a price on carbon that is returned to all households in the form of a monthly dividend check. Such an approach has long been met with criticism in conservative circles and by powerful business lobbies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That is until two weeks ago, when the Chamber shifted its position, telling the Washington Examiner it "supports a market-based approach to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reductions across the U.S. economy."

An official with the Chamber stated that carbon pricing is precisely such a market-based approach.

This is the formula proposed in the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act that is garnering bipartisan support in the House of Representatives.

According to a 2020 study 61 percent of U.S. households and 68 percent of individuals will receive more in dividends than they pay in higher costs. This data is based on an entry year fee of $15 per metric ton of carbon, but that amount will increase annually to spur industries to innovate and to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. (General Motors, for example, announced last week that its entire fleet of vehicles will be electric by 2035 and that it will be carbon neutral by 2040).

That same Household Impact Study’s data for Maine’s Second Congressional District reveals that between 80 and 97 percent of households in three lowest income quintiles will see a net gain (dividends exceeding increasing costs), and that in the wealthier two quintiles the net loss will average only about 0.2 percent of income.

In other words, the vast majority of Maine citizens will financially benefit from the effort to vastly reduce carbon emissions. Save money while saving the planet! You can estimate your household’s story with the cashback calculator found at https://energyinnovationact.org/carbon-dividend-calculator/?cn-reloaded=1. 

For much more information on the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act please consult https://www.carboncashback4me.org.

Bernie Baker lives in Belfast