Editor of the Reformer: The spring of 2021 was not a good one for the maple syrup businesses of the Northeast. Not only did unseasonably warm weather cut the flow short by a couple weeks, but this year's low sugar content also contributed to a lower than usual yield. For hobbyists, this is certainly unfortunate, but for businesses, this is lost revenue in an already difficult year.
The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA) involves putting a price on carbon at the source and distributing the collected money equally to residents as a monthly dividend. The fee increases each year, so companies can plan for it, and it eventually reaches a price that gets us to net zero by 2050.
It is a market-based approach that many economists support. And because most households, particularly lower income households, get more in dividends than they pay out in higher prices (https://citizensclimatelobby.org/household-impact-study/), it is popular.
Many Republicans also support EICDA. This is important because it could serve as a bridge across parties and actually strengthen EICDA legislation.
The other benefit to this solution is its reach. Other countries would follow our example and set their own carbon pricing systems because they could collect the fees for themselves, rather than giving them to the US. This is exactly what we need since the US is only a fraction of global emissions. This is a global problem that will require countries to come together to solve, and this policy is the first step.
EICDA is the quickest, most effective and efficient way to reduce global emissions. Please write your member of Congress to tell them you support this policy at cclusa.org/write.
