Climate change

Posted by Pamela Arnsberger on Sep 22, 2016
 
Sept 22nd
Announcements and Reminders
The Second Harvest Barrel wrap is on Sat Oct 1st 7:30 at the Food Bank.
 
Sandra announced that Soquel Interact has 35 kids in the club.  She may come back to the club and ask for some financial help to get the kids to the Fall Leadership Conference in San Jose.
 
Santa Cruz Office of Education has the S4C forum here at 5:30 Monday night.  All of the Districts and Cabrillo are working together to improve math /science education.
 
Al mentioned that an art auction fundraiser needs a contact person. Laura agreed to be that person.
 
Oct 13th we will be meeting at Digital Nest in Watsonville on Main St.
 
Bee announced that Bob Curtis donated his lottery winnings to the Elkhorn Slough and that they will be used to help low income children be transported to the Slough educational programs.
 
 
Pam Goodman introduced Dr. Strayer who is a history professor but spoke to us about climate change with a particular focus on a proposal for addressing this issue.
 
 
 
 
 
Dr. Strayer listed five assumptions on which this proposal is based:
  1. Climate change is real and it is happening before our eyes
  2.  We have done it. It is human created  by greenhouse gases through industrial expansion
  3. The situation we face is urgent.  Emitted CO2 lasts in the atmosphere for centuries.. so further warming is already baked in.
  4. Climate change is not only an ecological problem it is a moral issue. We need to leave a viable future for our children and grandchildren. It is also unequally distributed. Those who have contributed the least will end up suffering the most.
  5. We face an uphill battle. Internationally we face the daunting prospect of herding 200 plus nations towards a common approach to this problem.  Nationally some people deny that there is problem at all.  
The real question is ,of course, what to do if you accept these premises.  Dr. Strayer spent the rest of this talk speaking about a new proposal entitled Carbon Fee and Dividend.
 
Carbon Fee and Dividend  puts a steadily rising fee on fossil fuels based on the content of those fuels.  This provides a level playing field for all sources of energy. The proposal recommends that 100% of the fees minus administrative costs be returned to households each month.  About 2/3 of the households would break even. By the year 2025 a family of four would receive an annual return of about $3400. There would also be a border adjustment to stop business relocation. Imports would pay a carbon fee to prevent his from happening.
 
Dr. Strayer stressed that this would be good for the economy and for people. It would incentivize investment in non- carbon fuels. One study by REMI indicated that this kind of proposal would reduce our carbon emissions by about 52%. This is a market based approach that doesn’t add to the size of government or increased bureaucracy.  In addition the Carbon Fee and Dividend is projected to prevent over 230,000 premature deaths thru improved air quality.  The REMI study also said that 2.8 million new jobs could be created by this initiative.  The proposal promotes U.S. leadership in green energy technology. It also promotes national security.
 
 This idea has received surprising support from many quarters both conservative and liberal. Even oil companies have come out in favor of some type of carbon pricing mechanism because it will allow them to plan ahead.  Democrats including both California  senators are also supportive.
Carbon Fee and Dividend  has been tried in several places. Sweden lowered its carbon emissions by 40% by doing this. Some western states are also considering similar proposals as well as  a bipartisan group in congress. Dr. Strayer stressed that while there are costs to implementing this proposal, they are not nearly as much as the costs of inaction.