A recent article reports that Rep. Bruce Poliquin voted for a resolution condemning a carbon tax, and states he opposes a carbon tax because it would be “a transparent grab for revenue” and would impose the biggest burden “on the most vulnerable, the young, the poor, the elderly and those living on fixed incomes” (“Rep. Poliquin backs Republican bid to shut the door on a carbon tax,” July 20).

Passage of this resolution makes it clear that representatives have not considered that their objections to a carbon tax can be avoided by returning all the revenue collected to individual households in equal shares, as advocated by Citizens Climate Lobby and by the Climate Leadership Council, led by former secretaries of state James Baker and George Shultz.

A study by the independent firm Regional Economic Models Inc. has shown that those with the lowest incomes benefit the most from such a plan, and that because all revenue is returned to the public, several million more jobs would be created. Border adjustments would ensure that exporters are not at a disadvantage when selling to countries without a similar carbon pricing policy.

It’s frustrating to see our legislators once again refuse to take constructive action to deal with climate change, or even acknowledge the facts agreed upon by all reputable scientific groups — that climate change is happening and we humans are playing a huge role in it.

While a revenue-neutral carbon tax will not on its own solve the climate problem, in the opinion of many it is the best proposal currently on offer to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and set our course to leave a livable world for our children.

Philippa Solomon

Readfield


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