Winston Churchill said “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
We hopefully have left the COVID-19 crisis behind. Unfortunately, we are in the midst of two transformational crises, Putin’s war of aggression in the Ukraine and our “climate crisis.”
Almost overnight, we have crossed a threshold in our conceptual view of Putin’s Russia. We can’t go back. We collectively have made an irreversible choice to unify in the present of a major threat to world peace and security.
Putin’s war has exposed the regional and global security issues of relying on Russian oil and gas. Germany has taken courageous steps to drastically reduce their import of Russian fossil fuel and to halt the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline. This will catalyze the fast expansion of clean energy in Europe.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its 2022 report, details actions to take now to avoid a climate future which will threaten our children’s and grandchildren’s future. We must adopt bipartisan measures to address climate change before it is too late.
The world and the U.S. must address energy demand as we simultaneously reduce fossil fuel use. We are now the biggest producer of oil in the world. We must both temporarily increase production of fossil fuels to counter losses from Russia and, at the same time, implement measure to move away from fossil fuels now.
In this transition, financial hardship to individuals and families must be minimized. The solution has been suggested by members of both parties for at least a decade. The US government could immediately start issuing monthly checks to individuals and families to offset peoples’ higher energy cost. This could come as monthly payments into bank accounts (through Social Security).
These “dividends” would come from fees paid by oil, gas and coal producers. The fee would be based on the number of tons of earth-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted on burning fossil fuels. This fee could be implemented, through Congressional action, within 6 months of the start of the monthly dividends deposited in our accounts. The starting fee (for example $15/ton of CO2 emitted) should be raised every year until net emissions are zero. A $15/ton fee, if transferred to consumers, would increase gasoline prices by $0.15/gallon. This market-based approach would delivery a strong signal to business and individuals to move as quickly as possible to clean energy.
There are bills presently in Congress that promote these policies. Economic models show that the majority of people would gain financially as fossil fuels use declines.
In addition, we should maintain present nuclear energy production capacity and construct new generation plants, which unfortunately will take time that we can barely afford before we accrue the benefits of this zero-emission source of energy. Adopting clean energy standards championed by Senator Tina Smith also must occur.
Many speak of individual rights and liberties, but too few speak of individual and collective responsibilities to the future generations. We will all have to make personal sacrifices as we make changes to help leave a livable climate future for our children.
It is dishonest to infer or say otherwise. Our leaders should be truthful and courageous enough to acknowledge this as they lead us forward towards clean energy. We cannot afford to waste this opportunity to make the transformational changes that these two crises demand. Please contact your political leaders and urge them to act on climate change in a meaningful way now!
— Henry Jakubowski is an emeritus professor of chemistry at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. He now lives in New York City. Submit a Your Turn of you own by emailing columns@stcloudtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Your Turn: Face crises with unity to gain some ground for climate
