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U.S. National News
A U.S. Federal GHG Cap: Congress ponders climate legislation
The CLEAR Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2009.
Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for American Renewal (CLEAR) Act that takes a Cap and Dividend approach. The CLEAR Act sets an economy-wide carbon cap, auctions permits to fuel producers and returns 75% of the resulting revenue in checks to every American, and the remaining 25% as investments through a Clean Energy Reinvestment Trust (CERT Fund). With its "cap and dividend" approach, this bill would help the U.S. make a fair, affordable transition to a clean-energy, low-carbon economy, and avoid the pitfalls of other climate bills that pander to the coal-burning utilities and Wall Street traders.
Send a letter asking your Senator to support the CLEAR Act
• According to a study by James Boyce at UMass, Amherst, nationally, over 75% of Americans come out ahead under the CLEAR Act. That is, their dividends will exceed the higher carbon prices they’ll pay with a $25/ton carbon price. This will hold true no matter how high carbon prices rise. In other words, CLEAR provides permanent pocketbook protection for three-fourths of Americans, and considerable help for the rest.
• A majority of Americans come out ahead in all 50 states.
• The median American family of four comes out ahead by $316, while a typical low-income family of four gains $740. In other words, the CLEAR Act is good for low- and middle-income families in every state.
CLEAR Act Frequently Asked Questions (doc)
Net benefits to a California family of four from the CLEAR Act (pdf)
CLEAR Economics by Boyce and Riddle, UMass Amherst, March 2010 (pdf)
This report on the economics of the CLEAR Act estimates that a $25/ton carbon permit price would produce a $297 per capita dividend in 2020.
The report also
lists average cost impacts by state and by income decile.
It also provides a policy option of state-specific dividends that would produce a net benefit of $65 per person in 2020.
However, a better method of equalizing state impacts is through the CERT Fund.
Finally, the report estimates jobs created by the CERT Fund in each state.
As of May 2010, Senate leadership is focused on a compromise bill from Kerry-Lieberman (KL) instead of the CLEAR Act. Senator Graham has withdrawn his sponsorship of K-L, and as of late May 2010 there is no Republican sponsor of that bill. Additionally, it does not contain a cap and dividend approach and contains subsidies and giveaways to coal-burning utilities and fuel companies, and billions of offsets.
Here are more articles and blogs about the CLEAR Act.
Supporters Statement on the Importance of the CLEAR Act (43 groups and counting)
Letter from 12 U.S. Senators 7-21-10: Calling for "returning a majority of the revenue generated from pricing carbon directly to American households." The signing Senators are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Al Franken (D-MN).
Letter from faith organizations (Faith Economy Ecology Working Group) supporting the CLEAR Act 4-19-10
Cities are passing resolutions in support of the CLEAR Act
Links to recent articles and blogs about the CLEAR Act:
More links at www.supportclearact.com
Lee Wasserman Op-Ed in the New York Times 7-26-10: Four Ways to Kill a Climate Bill
James Boyce on Real Climate Economics blog 7-19-10: Essentials of Smart Climate Policy
Jonathan Alter in New York Times 7-18-10: Sound Bites for Bold Plans (mentions "cap and rebate")
George Lakoff on Buzzflash 7-15-10: We Need to Save Nature, Not Destroy It. We Can Start to Do So While Making Money, Stimulating the Economy, and Creating Jobs. Make Money by Saving Nature
and another link to this Lakoff article on Huffington Post Green
Blog on MLive.com (Michigan) 7-15-10: Don't like "cap and trade" for GHG emission control? How about "cap and dividend"?
James Boyce on Real Climate Economics blog 7-12-10: A Bipartisan Climate Bill in Partisan Times?
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) interviewed in Grist 6-30-10: You can't run up the white flag until you have the fight
The RGGI raid: how cap-and-trade revenues went to fix state budgets 6-26-10 (about how funds may be misappropriated if allocated for projects rather than dividends)
Mary Ellen Harte and John Harte on Huffington Post Green 6-22-10: Addressing Climate Change: Most Voters Approve Cantwell-Collins Approach
Maine Public Broadcasting Network 6-22-10: Maine Senators Face Mounting Pressure to Back Climate Change Bill
SunBreak blog 6-21-10: The CLEAR Act, from Cantwell & Collins, Get Its Close-up
NY Daily News 6-21-10: Common sense & crude oil can mix: Things may be changing after Joe Barton's idiotic apology to BP
Senators Maria Cantwell and Susan Collins in Washington Post 6-18-10: A cap-and-dividend way to a cleaner nation and more jobs
Two minute overview of the CLEAR Act on YouTube 6-17-10
Mike Sandler on Huffington Post Green 6-10-10: A Climate Bill to Punish BP and Benefit America
Climate Today blog on the CLEAR Act
NationalJournal.com 6-7-10: Senators Want EIA To Analyze Cantwell-Collins Bill
Here's the letter sent by Senators Bingaman, Murkowski, Cantwell, Collins, and Voinovich.
Miryam Ehrlich Williamson blog 6-7-10: Climate Change Legislation Getting Warmer
LTE in Keene Sentinel (NH) 6-4-10: Nuclear is not the right answer
Of Peace and Politics blog (Friends Committee on National Legislation intern) 6-4-10
Bloomberg BusinessWeek 6-3-10: The Smooth-Talking King of Coal—and Climate Change (troubling article about the giveaways in Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Lieberman)
LTE in West Seattle Herald 6-1-10: Beating the Pavement
George Lakoff on Huffington Post 5-28-10: Obama's Missing Moral Narrative (on the oil spill, mentions CLEAR)
Silver City Sun News (NM) OpEd 5-24-10: Cap legislation would serve us well
Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater on Huffington Post 5-24-10: Starting Oil's Retirement Party
Flathead Beacon (Montana) 5-23-10: In D.C., Flathead Residents Press Senators on Climate Change Bill
Mike Sandler on Huffington Post Green 5-18-10: K-L Climate Bill Victimized By "Stall, Water-Down and Ditch" (about K-L and CLEAR)
Billings Gazette 5-18-10: No one fond of Senate’s global-warming bill (about K-L and CLEAR)
Kennebec Journal, Online Sentinel, Maine 5-13-10: Collins takes up fight against carbon emissions
Bismarck Tribune 5-1-10: Delegation looks for energy diversity
Denis Hayes on HuffingtonPost 4-28-10: Climate Compromise, Not Capitulation
Friends of the Earth President on HuffingtonPost 4-28-10: Time for a Do-Over on Clean Energy Legislation
John Passacantando on Grist 4-27-10: The upside of the Senate climate bill's troubles
Solve Climate blog 4-27-10: If Sen. Graham Bails, Is There a Climate and Energy Backup Plan?
Sustainable Business Oregon 4-26-10: A bipartisan bill in partisan times?
Mike Tidwell in Baltimore Sun 4-22-10: Bag tax: Behavior change in Washington could solve global warming
Yale Environment 360 4-21-10: A New Approach in the Senate
To Putting a Price on Carbon
The Hill 4-20-10: Collins: GOP political support for carbon caps depends on where the money goes
Triple Pundit blog 4-20-10: Can Cap and Dividend Save Cap and Trade?
The Nation editorial 4-15-10 (in May 3rd issue): Earth to Congress
James Boyce in Foreign Policy in Focus blog 4-15-10: Will America Buy a New Climate Policy?
Washington Post blog OpEd 4-9-10: CLEAR Act delivers, study says (discusses a study released by Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law)
Senator Cantwell interviewed on Living on Earth "Cash for Climate" 4-9-10
Environmental Leader blog 4-7-10: Why Congress should take a CLEAR Approach to Climate Change
Bill McKibben in The New Republic 4-5-10: Bringing the Heat: Forget cap-and trade. This is a climate bill you can love.
Philadelphia Daily News OpEd 4-2-10: Obama joins 'Drill, Baby, Drill' team
City of Santa Rosa, Calif. passes resolution in support of the CLEAR Act 3-31-10 (photo)
North Bay Bohemian (Sonoma County, CA) 3-31-10: CLEAR Direction
New Energy News blog 3-30-10: Cap & Dividend CLEAR-ED for Consideration (incl maps from Boyce paper)
Mother Jones blog 3-25-10: The Other Climate Bill
BusinessWeek 3-24-10: Climate Bill Must Drop Carbon Market, Cantwell Says
Sens. Cantwell and Collins explain CLEAR Act to Bipartisan Policy Center on Youtube 3-24-10
Anchorage Daily News op-ed 3-19-10: The path to sustainable living here is CLEAR
Ted Glick on Truthout 3-18-10: Climate Legislation: The CLEAR Choice
Public Citizen letter against offsets and in support of CLEAR
AARP letter to Sen. Cantwell in support of dividends
National Journal Expert Energy Blog 3-15-10: Should Carbon Be Priced Sector By Sector?
Las Cruces Sun-News op-ed 3-14-10: The CLEAR choice: families before corporations
Seacoastonline.com 3-10-10: Sen. Collins: energy bill could jump start Senate
Hill Heat 3-9-10: AARP Endorses Cantwell-Collins
Asher Miller, Post Carbon Institute on Reuters Blog 3-3-10: Senator Graham shouts “Play Ball!”
Billings Outpost 2-24-10: The end of climate change?
Idaho Statesman blog 2-17-10: New climate bill would give Idaho families the most benefits
Denver Post editorial 2-16-10: Fresh start on carbon battle
Washington Post editorial 2-10-10: Senate offers some hope for legislation to combat climate change
Globe and Mail (Canada) 2-9-10: Cap-and-dividend: the jolt Harper needs?
Earth Day Network blog 2-5-10: Economist Endorses the CLEAR act over a Cap and Trade Bill
The Economist print edition 2-4-10: A refreshing dose of honesty: Maria Cantwell and the politics of global warming
Mike Tidwell Chesapeake Climate Action Network 2-4-10: YouTube video on CLEAR Act and resources
Campaign for America's Future blog 2-4-10: Cap-and-Trade and Cap-and-Dividend Can Be Friends!
Mike Sandler on Huffington Post Green 2-4-10: Real Feasibility: Dividends Relieve Economic Uncertainty
Rabbi Arthur Waskow on the Shalom Center blog 2-3-10: Cash for Carbon: New Climate-Crisis "Cap-and-Dividend" bill would pay cash to all Americans
David Morris in Minneapolis Star-Tribune 1-28-10: Instead of cap and trade, cap and dividend
Washington Post editorial 1-22-10: Sen. Murkowski's CLEAR option on carbon regulation
Steve Hargreaves CNNMoney.com 12-30-09: Fight global warming, get $1,100 a year, webpage also includes a great interview with Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom
Green Beat blog 12-28-09: Climate bill chaos: Your guide to the two newest proposals
Ecopolitology blog 12-28-09: New Senate Climate Bill Would Send You a Monthly Check
David Morris blog on AlterNet 12-27-09: A New Outside-the-Beltway Climate Bill Deserves Support; Why Won't Enviros Get Behind It?
Blog on the Energy Collective 12-26-09: New Senate Climate Bill Would Send You a Monthly Check
Mike Sandler on Huffington Post Green 12-14-09: The Cantwell-Collins CLEAR Act Helps Consumers, the Climate, and the Economy
Peter Barnes on Grist 12-14-09: Why Cantwell-Collins is best—and how it just might win
Grist 12-14-09: Defending the Cantwell/Collins CLEAR Act
James Boyce 12-14-09: New Deal for U.S. Climate Policy?
Sarah Van Gelder of Yes! Magazine on 12-11-09: Cap and Dividend: A Clear Winner
10-26-09 Grist: Comparing the competing flavors of the Senate climate debate including "Cantwell & Jerry's"
10-5-09 Cantwell climate bill is simpler and more equitable Senator Maria Cantwell’s Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act of 2009, a soon-to-be-introduced Cap and Dividend bill that uses the term "Carbon Share" to describe allowances.
7-1-09 OregonLive: Editorial about ACES and Cap and Dividend
6-16-09: A more recent CBO assessment of costs in ACES.
2-25-09: Price of emissions: House bill would send taxpayers a check
Obama counts on revenue from carbon permits
In March 2009, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. introduced legislation called The Cap and Dividend Act of 2009. It would distribute at least 90 percent of the permit proceeds in the form of dividends to everyone in the U.S. with a Social Security number. The bill was proposed but never formally released, probably due to pressure from the House leadership, which supported ACES instead.
Other climate bills being considered in Congress include the Waxman-Markey bill (ACES), which narrowly passed the House, and the Boxer-Kerry bill, which is being considered in the Senate, and by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman.
The bill that passed the House was the Waxman-Markey bill, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which sets a carbon cap and contains multiple provisions to reduce emissions, including a renewable energy standard, fuel standards and more. Although President Obama campaigned that he would auction the permits, the House version of ACES gives away 80% to industries and utilities. For how it compares with the Van Hollen bill, here's a brief discussion with links. An EPA analysis of the bill states that auctioned allowances with lump-sum distribution of revenues to households is the least regressive cap-and-trade policy analyzed and has been shown to be progressive in some cases. Here's another link to the EPA analysis.
Quotes from Congress:
“Over the course of debate on climate change, many have become more and more
persuaded that the main priority for allowance allocations and auctions
should be to return revenue to ratepayers and consumers. Studies show that
they are the ones who will ultimately see the price signal in the form of
increased energy prices. The question, therefore, is ‘what is the best way
to achieve that goal?’ We also need to have a better understanding of the
uses of free allowances,” Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman (quoted by InsideEPA).
"If somehow the American people could trust, and that those of us involved
in this legislative process could trust that not one penny at the end of the
day was going to leave consumers, either going to corporate pockets or
government coffers, but 100 percent of that would be returned, and we knew
it was never going to be utilized as a source of funding additional sizes of
government, I think it would go a long way toward mitigating some of the
contentiousness over this," Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) (quoted by Inside EPA).
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Here's a sample letter to send to your Senator:
Dear Senator _____,
I am writing to ask you to support and co-sponsor the Carbon Limits and Energy for American Renewal (CLEAR) Act, recently introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The CLEAR Act auctions permits to fuel producers and returns 75% of the resulting revenue in checks to every American. With its "cap and dividend" approach, this bill would help the U.S. make a fair, affordable transition to a clean-energy, low-carbon economy, and avoid the pitfalls of other climate bills that pander to the coal-burning utilities and Wall Street traders.
With its "simplicity, transparency and equity," CLEAR creates an economy-wide carbon price, is revenue-neutral to the government, and provides economic stimulus through dividends to households. I am concerned about the Kerry-Lieberman bill that contains free allowances to coal-burning utilities, questionable offsets, offshore drilling, and nuclear. Please support CLEAR instead.
Sincerely,
_______
Here's another sample letter:
Dear Senator _____,
Climate change is serious and needs immediate action. However, the ACES was compromised in the House when it gave away 80% of allowances to polluting industries (including utilities) instead of auctioning 100%. I urge you to strengthen the provisions of the ACESA by:
- Auctioning 100% of the permits to polluting companies- no give aways!
- Giving the majority of the revenue (at least 70%) directly to the American people (not to utilities on behalf of consumers) to help with the inevitable rise in energy prices
- Eliminate or drastically reduce the use of offsets- we want real emissions reductions
- Set a bolder emissions reduction target for 2020
Or you can simply introduce a Senate version of the Cap and Dividend bill that Congressman Chris Van Hollen introduced in the House, perhaps similar to Sen. Cantwell's CLEAR Act.
Sincerely,
_____
Here's another sample letter:
Dear Senator Boxer,
I am very concerned that some versions of S. 1733, Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, as well as the House's HR2454, could pre-empt California's ability to set a tighter cap on global warming emissions. Presumably, this pre-emption was a negotiated to woo reluctant Senators or lobbyists worried about a "patchwork" of conflicting regulations. But California's exceptional status has been integral in the history of the Clean Air Act, providing other states the option of adopting stricter rules, and saving thousands of lives. In the case of global warming, California's innovative industries could provide the technology that the world will need to attack global warming, and this innovation could be hamstrung by Federal pre-eption. Please let California's leaders and AB32 do its job, let California adopt stricter standards.
Additionally, the design of California's AB32 cap and trade system may return permit auction revenues collected by the state back to households. Or, the allowances could be allocated directly to Californians as a share to be sold to upstream companies, providing income to the owners of the shared Commons and economic stimulus considering our state's 12% unemployment rate. Perhaps you can consider this Cap and Dividend or Cap and Share allocation, rather than the lobbyist-first allocation of the current Federal bills.
Sincerely,
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Here's a sample letter to the editor of your local newspaper:
Dear Editor:
The U.S. Senate is currently considering a bill to stop climate change and send a check to every American. The Carbon Limits and Energy for American Renewal (CLEAR) Act, sponsored by Senators Cantwell and Collins would stimulate green jobs and technology, protect consumers, bi-pass Wall Street, and de-carbonize the economy. Perhaps best of all, the entire bill is only 39 pages long. Returning dividends to all U.S. residents from revenue generated by atmospheric pollution is the single piece of legislation that if passed in 2010 would help relieve this country’s economic and environmental woes.
Sincerely,
- - - - - - -
Archive: From 2008:
Congressman Edward Markey's Investing in Climate Action and Protection (iCAP) legislation auctions 94% of permits, rising to 100% by 2020. It returns over 50% of auction revenue to consumers. The good news is Rep. Markey is the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
The Lieberman-Warner bill ("The Climate Security Act") is another example of a bill that Congress considered to cap GHG emissions. The bill was briefly debated on the Senate Floor on June 6, 2008 before it was removed from the floor by a 48-36 vote where 60 Senators were needed to continue debate and sixteen Senators did not vote. Unfortunately, the bill gives billions of dollars in emission rights to fossil fuel companies, following the poor example of Europe's ETS. It also was opposed by many Senators for spending auction revenues on a laundry list of projects. Carbon Share could improve this bill by auctioning 100% of permits and returning dividends to consumers, or by distributing emission rights (Shares) directly to Americans. This bill or a modified version proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer may be reintroduced next year when we have a new President.
Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, offered an amendment to the Lieberman-Warner bill that would auction most carbon permits and return the proceeds to the American people. The rebates would be paid by check each year to all individuals earning less than $150,000, and all couples earning less than $300,000.
Will any Federal legislation give Americans this choice: cash dividend, tax rebate, or share?
Click here for international Carbon Share news.
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