Citizens Climate Lobby Monthly Meetings

There is strong support among economists for "taxing bad", meaning to tax activities that have detrimental impacts. This runs contrary to the blanket condemnation of taxes that has long interfered with improving our use of this important tool for influencing behavior.

The most efficient way to prevent further destabilization of the climate is to put a tax on carbon-based energy--the sort that we have been taking from its safe sequestered state underground, and pumping into the atmosphere in its highly active form as carbon dioxide. Everyone agrees that carbon dioxide, in the right amount, plays a vital role in the atmosphere, keeping the planet hospitable for life. But there can be, and there now is, too much of a good thing, just as the vital capacity of our bodies to stay warm can morph into a dangerous fever if things get out of balance. So much of our personal health, and the health of the planet, depends on maintaining the right chemical balance--in our bodies, in the atmosphere, in the oceans. Similarly, carbon-based fuels have many short term benefits, allowing us mobility and comfort, but we now know that the longterm impacts of utilizing them are devastating and long-lasting, and alternative energies coupled with greater efficiency can be applied now to squeeze these harmful fuels out of our lives.

The Citizens Climate Lobby is a national organization with local chapters, each working to build support for a carbon tax that will drive innovation and motivate people to reduce consumption of carbon-based fuels, without imposing financial hardship. One argument against a carbon tax is that it might affect the poor, who often need to drive from poor neighborhoods to more prosperous locations where the jobs are, and tend to live in poorly insulated houses. But the tax being promoted is "revenue-neutral", meaning that instead of going into government coffers, the money raised is given back as equal payments to all U.S. citizens. Each of us gets a periodic check in the mail for an equal amount, regardless of how much carbon energy we use.

The best tax is the kind you can avoid paying. With a carbon tax, each of us can find ways to use less carbon energy, whether by using a more efficient car, planning out errands better, using fans more and the air conditioner less. Our innate resourcefulness and adaptability can be applied in many ways to trimming the amount of gas or electricity needed to maintain comfort and mobility. The less energy used, the more money from that check that can be applied to other purposes.

Princeton's chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby meets the first Saturday of each month, usually at 12:30pm in one of the members' homes. Meetings are informative and upbeat. If you'd like to attend or find out more, send an email to climatecallie@gmail.com.