Message below submitted as comment on Tom Friedman column in NY Times on 09-07-14.
Tom:
Thank you for another excellent column.
You have advocated a carbon tax for many years, and this is supported by many other respected people, like George Schultz, Michael Bloomberg, and Warren Buffet. Even CEOs like Jeff Immelt of GE and Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil.
There is a form of carbon fee that avoids the stigma of the word “tax”. It is a “carbon fee and dividend” (CFD). A fee is collected at the source of the fossil fuel: mine, well, port of entry. The amount of the fee is based on the quantity of CO2 produced when the fuel is burned. All the fee revenue, except for a small administrative cost, is divided into equal shares and returned to public as dividends.
The fee per unit of CO2 will start low and rise gradually in accordance with a set schedule. Consumers and the business community will be able to plan and adjust.
The CFD has many attractive features that I won’t elaborate here. The Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) is a not-for-profit, bipartisan organization that is promoting this system. I urge you to learn more about the CFD and address it in future columns.
Bill Allen