Carbon fee resurrected, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19 & Pew's new survey on climate
The newsletter for independent thinkers on carbon and climate.
(source: McGill University)
Issue No.90
Welcome to the latest issue of Carbon Creed - a curated newsletter for independent thinkers on carbon and climate.
Carbon pricing is back in the mix for reconciliation.
Senate Democrats are considering a carbon pricing proposal for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, according to E&E News, bringing the policy back into the mix despite potential opposition from progressives and the White House.
It’s the latest sign that a carbon tax or fee could be in the mix for reconciliation, in addition to the Clean Electricity Performance Program, or CEPP, and a suite of other climate policies.
A separate Finance Committee document circulating around Capitol Hill last month included a broad proposal for a carbon tax starting at $15 per ton, paired with rebates for low-income taxpayers, as a potential way to finance the package.
Presidential climate envoy John Kerry said earlier this year that he believes President Biden supports carbon pricing and that “one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions is putting a price on carbon” (Climatewire, April 9).
But the White House opposed a similar gas tax hike during talks on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and appeared to rule carbon pricing out with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.
I remain firm in my conviction that a price on carbon must be included in any major climate legislation. In fact, I think we are on the verge of a global carbon border tax. This will fundamentally change our economies and trigger the great decarbonization shift.
We’ll keep you posted on the latest carbon policy and market insights as they happen.
If you have an opinion on any topic covered in this newsletter, please feel free to send me an email at mcleodwl@carboncreed.com.
Thank you for your viewpoint and the value of your time.
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QUOTES
Climate quotes and sayings that will inspire you
(image : Loomis Dean/The Guardian)
“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” – Ernest Hemingway (late Novelist and Journalist)
“We cannot compromise with the earth; we cannot compromise with the catastrophe of unchecked climate change, so we must compromise with one another.” - Gordon Brown (fmr. Prime Minister UK)
“A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.” - Dr. Seuss (Author, The Lorax)
BOOKS
The Fight for Climate After Covid-19
By Alice C. Hill
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit our world on a scale beyond living memory, taking millions of lives and leading to a lockdown of communities worldwide. A pandemic, much like climate change, acts as a threat multiplier, increasing vulnerability to harm, economic impoverishment, and the breakdown of social systems. Even more concerning, communities severely impacted by the coronavirus still remain vulnerable to other types of hazards, such as those brought by accelerating climate change. The catastrophic risks of pandemics and climate change carry deep uncertainty as to when they will occur, how they will unfold, and how much damage they will do. The most important question is how we can face these risks to minimize them most.
The Fight for Climate After COVID-19 draws on the troubled and uneven COVID-19 experience to illustrate the critical need to ramp up resilience rapidly and effectively on a global scale. After years of working alongside public health and resilience experts crafting policy to build both pandemic and climate change preparedness, Alice C. Hill exposes parallels between the underutilized measures that governments should have taken to contain the spread of COVID-19—such as early action, cross-border planning, and bolstering emergency preparation—and the steps leaders can take now to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Through practical analyses of current policy and thoughtful guidance for successful climate adaptation, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19 reveals that, just as our society has transformed itself to meet the challenge of coronavirus, so too will we need to adapt our thinking and our policies to combat the ever-increasing threat of climate change.
Unapologetic and clear-eyed, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19 helps us understand why the time has come to prepare for the world as it will be, rather than as it once was.
INSIGHTS
Pew Survey: Citizens in advanced economies willing to “change” to combat global warming
A new Pew Research Center survey in 17 advanced economies spanning North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region finds widespread concern about the personal impact of global climate change. Most citizens say they are willing to change how they live and work at least some to combat the effects of global warming, but whether their efforts will make an impact is unclear.
Citizens offer mixed reviews of how their societies have responded to climate change, and many question the efficacy of international efforts to stave off a global environmental crisis.
Conducted this past spring, before the summer season ushered in new wildfires, droughts, floods and stronger-than-usual storms, the study reveals a growing sense of personal threat from climate change among many of the publics polled.
Many people across 17 advanced economies are concerned that global climate change will harm them personally at some point in their lifetime. A median of 72% express at least some concern that they will be personally harmed by climate change in their lifetimes, compared with medians of 19% and 11% who say they are not too or not at all concerned, respectively. The share who say they are very concerned climate change will harm them personally ranges from 15% in Sweden to 57% in Greece.
These data reflect the growing realization by the advanced economies, that climate change is not something in the distant future, but is happening now and must be dealt with. Are the citizens of these lands really prepared to make the necessary changes to stave off the worst consequences of climate change - we hope so, but only time will tell.
RESOURCES
The Keeling Curve a daily record of global atmospheric CO2 concentration.
Congressional Policy Tracker a summary of current federal energy legislation.
Click Clean your favorite apps and tech company clean power rankings.
Advancing Inclusion Through Clean Energy Jobs a report by the Brookings Institute.
Understanding ESG a series of ESG-focused thought leadership webinars for business and investors, presented by Baker McKenzie.
Matter of Fact, a weekly newsmagazine that focuses on socioeconomic and climate issues in America, hosted by veteran journalist Soledad O'Brien.
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