Why we still need a national carbon fee
While the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is set to make historic progress in addressing climate change, it’s important to recognize that the work still isn’t done. CCL Research Coordinator Jonathan Marshall makes a compelling case for the continued push for a carbon price, even after the successes brought by the reconciliation process. “Although [the Inflation Reduction Act] should help bring U.S. greenhouse gas emissions down about 40 percent by 2030, that’s still well short of our national commitment of a 50 percent reduction,” Jonathan writes in a recent blog post. “If we want to have any hope of keeping global warming under 2°C, the U.S. (and other countries) will need to get all the way to net zero by 2050 — a far bigger lift. Just spending more money to subsidize renewable energy, electric vehicles, and other clean technologies won’t do the job.” Over 3,600 economists agree that a carbon fee would work with clean energy subsidies and regulations to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuel emissions. Jonathan reaffirms what CCL has been telling Congress all along: a carbon price is a powerful tool that the U.S. should put into action.
In other news this week: • Citizens' Climate 2021 Annual Report: The 2021 Citizens' Climate Lobby/Citizens' Climate Education Annual Report is live. Did you know that CCL welcomed 23,552 new supporters last year? Or that CCL had 4,112 media hits? Read through highlights from the last year in the report, available here. • CCL’s Inclusion Conference success: CCL’s Inclusion Conference was this past weekend — thank you to everyone who attended. If you’re interested, you can watch the speaker recordings and view the presentations. • CCL’s Jennifer Tyler on NCEW panel: The 2022 National Clean Energy Week Policy Maker’s Symposium is just around the corner. This year, you can expect to see CCL’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, Jennifer Tyler, lending her expertise on one of the symposium panels. Check out the speakers list here. • Outdoor Industry Action Team special guest: The Outdoor Industry Action Team will be welcoming Olympic silver medalist Hilary Lindh to their next meeting. Hilary endorsed the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act after working with CCLer Robin Paone. If you would like to learn how to engage professional athletes in climate advocacy, you are welcome to attend the meeting. • Bipartisan climate lessons from the 117th Congress: Conversation around climate has changed because we believed it could, and we worked to make that a reality. Read this blog from CCL’s Senior Director of Programs about the bipartisan progress we’ve seen in this Congress. |
