The Carbon Cashback Solution
When polluting is cheap, we get too much of it.
The late highly respected conservative economist and Republican statesman George Shultz spent his final years pointing out, with regret, that our greenhouse gas and global warming problems are the result of a massive “market failure” - the failure to set fossil fuel prices at levels that reflect their true costs – their “negative externalities.” In 2014 he became a strong proponent of “revenue neutral carbon pricing” as the rational and necessary correction to the market!
Carbon Cashback Solution
The Carbon Cashback Solution is our best first step to reduce the main cause of climate change
Putting a price on carbon emissions from fossil fuels is the most cost-effective way to reduce pollution
Carbon Cashback, also known as Carbon Fee and Dividend, adds a pollution fee to fossil fuels based on the amount of CO2 they will emit when burned.
The fee is paid by producers, as their fuels enter into the market and collected and placed (by law) into a Carbon Trust Fund.
The fairest thing to do with the money collected is to distribute it to all households equally to compensate people for the harms being done to them by the pollution. This cash-back dividend also protects household budgets from the temporarily higher energy prices.
All the proceeds (less administrative funds) of this nationally applicable fee will be regularly disbursed to all American households.
Higher priced fossil fuels will force industries to increase their energy efficiency, burn less fossil fuel, and switch to renewables where possible, while consumers will choose products that are less fossil fuel-intensive.
When less fossil fuels are burned, CO2 emissions drop proportionately.
The regular dividend check, equal for all individuals (half shares for children), will more than compensate the majority of households for increased prices.
Border carbon adjustments will protect US jobs and businesses, and strongly incentivize other countries to match our carbon price. That will drive global emissions down as we need for our own safety.
As of October 2023 this policy is embodied in HR5744, The Energy Innovation Act, introduced by Senator Salud Carbajal, D., CA.
CCL Information on Carbon Cashback Pricing/Carbon Fee & Dividend
Who Supports a Carbon Fee
Who says put a cash-back price on carbon? Nearly everyone who's looked into it.
We get the best solutions when both parties work together to address our biggest challenges.
Watch this video to learn who's talking about it.
"I'm not an economist. Show me in straightforward terms how this policy would affect me or other people I know. "
If the above statement applies to you, please experiment with the Personal Carbon Dividend Calculator below:
This calculator estimates the impact of both the carbon fee and dividend for your specific family for the first year's fee of $15/ton.
The IMF, World Bank, IPCC, and nearly all US economists say carbon pricing is the most powerful tool to reduce air pollution.
This carbon cashback policy is recognized by conservative and liberal economists alike as the most important single move we can make to turn the economy toward non-fossil fuels as swiftly as is necessary for a livable future.
Over 3,500 US economists agree the cheapest and fairest way to reduce climate pollution is:
Put a price on carbon emissions at the source,
Rebate all the money collected to all households equally, and
Add the carbon price to imports and remove it from exports in trade with countries that allow free pollution.
Support in the United States
Many groups in the United States are calling for carbon pricing, including:
The New England Power Generators Association
The Electric Power Supply Association
US Businesses like eBay, Exelon, Gap, Levi's, Nike, Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Tesla
Many other major organizations and groups
International Support
Forty-six countries are already pricing carbon
A few countries will soon claim the lead in producing the clean energy solutions that will be used in the global transition to a clean energy economy in the next few decades. Those with meaningful carbon prices are the most likely to become the global energy solution providers of the 21st century.
More About Carbon Fee and Dividend
Want to know more about the Carbon Cashback Solution? Explore the videos and links below to learn more.
How a Carbon Fee and Dividend Works.
A carbon fee and dividend puts a price on carbon emissions, so fossil fuel producers pay a steadily increasing fee for their emissions. That money then gets equally distributed between US households to compensate for the harm caused by emissions.
Most families will receive more money in their monthly cash-back dividend than they will pay in higher prices. Low-income households will come out the farthest ahead.
Watch this video to learn more about how this works.