June 16, 2014
Letter to the editor
Wellington Advertiser
Dear Editor.
In light of all the negativity around the issue of climate change, I would like to direct your attention to a recent study by the Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) that presents North Americans with hope. The study found that applying a tax on fossil fuels would not only boost employment, but significantly reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The key is for all revenue from the tax to be returned to households in equal shares as direct payments. Those who use less would get more back from the tax than they pay out.
Under this approach, REMI found that recycling the revenue back into the US economy would add 2.1 million jobs over ten years. Improvements in air quality would save 13,000 lives a year, and greenhouse gas emissions would decline by 33 percent.
In Canada, MP Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay) is championing a similar initiative called ‘carbon fee and dividend’. On May 26, in the House of Commons, he stated: “Carbon fee and dividend almost does it all. It prices carbon (fossil fuels) fairly and scientifically, uses only free market forces to foster CO2 reductions, costs virtually nothing to administer, benefits lower income Canadians – and no money goes to the government at all.”
We need to ensure that our government implements a carbon fee and dividend system so that we, and the generations that follow, will know that there is hope for the future!
Sincerely,
Heidi Matthews
41 Erinlea Cres.,
Erin, ON
For the full report see;
http://citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/REMI-carbon-tax-report-62141.pdf
Heidi Matthews