The letter below was sent to President Barack Obama on June 28, 2010, and is being distributed to others inside and outside of government. It was published in the Benardsville News on July 15.
Dear Mr. President:
We need a bold national program to phase out fossil fuels and build a sustainable 21st century economy powered by clean energy. The most visible reason today is the tragic oil spill in the Gulf. The most important reason is to slow climate change. There are many others.
Building this economy will stimulate new technologies and generate good American jobs. This suggests a name for the program: ReEnergize America.
A bold program needs bold leadership. In 1961 John Kennedy called for a national program to land a man on the moon and bring him back “before this decade is out.” This became the Apollo program. Americans accepted and met the challenge. Along the way they overcame difficult problems, invented new technologies, and produced good jobs.
The 60’s were troubling times. Apollo raised our spirits and renewed our confidence.
I urge you to call for the program to ReEnergize America and set the goal to stop burning fossil fuels by 2050. As with Apollo, Americans will rise to the challenge and solve the problems. As with Apollo, the program will raise our spirits in the decades ahead and renew our confidence.
In a market economy, the best way to discourage use of fossil fuels is to raise their prices. If done slowly and steadily in a way that provides clear price signals over the long term, all participants in the economy can plan and respond constructively.
For this reason a core component of ReEnergize America should be a system called carbon fee-and-dividend. Impose fees on all fossil fuels, collect them at the source (mine, well, port of entry), and return the revenues to the people as dividends. Assign fees so that all fuels are treated equally in terms of the carbon dioxide they produce.
Start the fees low, say by an amount that will add 10-15 cents per gallon to the price of gas at the pump. Increase them by this amount each year. The prices for products and services that depend upon fossil fuels will rise gradually. Consumers, entrepreneurs, inventors, and investors will all have increasing incentives to act. The outcomes will include production of more clean energy, products that use less energy, and changes by people to use less energy.
The carbon fee will not be a tax. Except for a small administrative cost, all revenue will be divided and returned promptly and directly to legal residents, say by checks in March and September.
These dividends will help people adjust to higher prices and purchase products and services that use less energy. People who do best in controlling their energy use will come out ahead.
The enabling legislation for carbon fee-and-dividend should be simple and make no concessions to special interests. There will be important consequences.
- Fee revenue will remain in the private sector.
- The market place, not the government, will determine winners and losers among providers of energy and products and services that use energy.
- Government subsidies will not be necessary to encourage people to conserve or use clean energy.
- Because there are no concessions to special interests, the system will be fair and be seen that way.
The Gulf oil spill alerted Americans to serious problems in our energy supply system. But there is no consensus on what should be done. People need more time to learn, discuss, and decide. Congress should not try to pass comprehensive energy legislation this year. It should work to resolve problems that Americans care more about today, like jobs and mortgages.
Mr. President, I propose that you declare the rest of 2010 to be a period for national dialog on the program to ReEnergize America. People in public and private settings across the country can discuss the merits of the program and how to implement it. It can become an issue in the fall campaigns. It can reenergize those who supported you in 2008. Call for enabling legislation from Congress in early 2011.
If you lead, Americans will follow. If America leads, the world will follow.
Please lead, Mr. President.
Respectfully yours,
Bill Allen, June 28, 2010