Citizens’ Climate Lobby has a plan

To the Editor;
Over the past few years I have become familiar with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) which is a national, non-partisan group that is organized on the grassroots level. It has a practical plan to cut CO2 emissions by 40 percent over the next 12 years. Another benefit for Maine would be a decrease in pollution and acid rain coming from Midwest smokestacks. Currently there are 13 chapters in Maine including Waterville, Bangor, and Augusta.

Dover-Foxcroft has just started and meets monthly the first Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the Sebec Room at Mayo Regional Hospital. Laurie Sproul is the organizer and has been active as an environmental educator and artist in the state for years. Peter Garrett is the CCL coordinator for Maine and spoke at the January meeting. He is a retired geologist with a Ph.D. in Earth Science.

I am writing because I am concerned about global warming, pollution and the dangers of fracking. CCL has a great plan and is winning many converts. Their fee and dividend model is similar to what Canada is already doing. Basically, oil, natural gas, and coal producers pay a carbon fee and every American would get a “dividend” check to offset the retail cost, so overall it would be income neutral, but would encourage wiser consumption choices. Folks who use less energy would keep more of their dividend. Personally, I think now is the time because gasoline prices are low. CCL is endorsing two bills, the Energy Innovation Act in the House and a similar Carbon Pricing Bill in the Senate. No plan is perfect, but surely the cost of doing nothing would be huge. I urge citizens to explore more at citizensclimatelobby.org.

Joe Garbowski
Cambridge