Carbon Fee and Dividend

Brief
The cost of burning fossil fuels is paid by all of us, but the benefits are disproportionately gained by industry. There is very little incentive to control the rate at which fossil fuels are burned or CO2 is released into the atmosphere.

While a carbon tax would disincentivize the burning of fossil fuels, the money would enter the federal bureaucracy and be detached from other solutions to the problems associated with climate change.

A carbon fee and dividend, similar to the one proposed by the conservative Climate Leadership Council, would allow businesses to find market-based solutions to their carbon release while benefiting American citizens and providing funding for alternative fuel research and upgrades to our current energy systems. It could also be used to subsidize fuel costs for low-income Americans."We need to have companies internalize the cost of carbon emissions to provide incentives for them to innovate and invest in cleaner technologies and processes. If you are pumping carbon into the atmosphere you should pay your fellow citizens for it as we all pay for it in the end. We also need to transfer the benefits to citizens directly and use the money to improve the efficiency and availability of renewable energy. "

Problems to be Solved

 * The costs of burning fossil fuels are felt by everyone, with the benefits going to fewer
 * There is no strong incentive for corporations to stop burning fossil fuels

Goals

 * Lower reliance on fossil fuels
 * Combat global warming
 * Provide benefits directly to Americans, who suffer the negative effects of industrial fossil fuel use

Guiding Principles

 * Equity
 * Health

As President, I will…

 * Propose a carbon fee and dividend systems that:
 * Sets an initial carbon tax of $40/ton, which would increase in regular intervals
 * Use that tax to fund, after administrative fees:
 * (50%) The Freedom Dividend
 * (50%) Projects that are enhancing efficiency of fossil fuels or increasing availability of renewable resources
 * Create a border carbon adjustment to protect American goods that would:
 * charge a fee to imports from countries that don’t impose a similar carbon fee, or some type of carbon tax
 * provide a rebate to exports to countries that don’t impose a similar carbon fee, or some type of carbon tax