Steve Sacks 1/25/2015 - Make polluters pay

Make polluters pay

 Many people believe that the free market is the best way to deal with economic issues. Right now, we all pay for the pollution in our air and water that is caused by corporations. We pay in taxes and with our health. What if polluters paid for their pollution?

That is exactly what is happening in British Columbia, Canada. Companies that pollute pay a fee for their pollution, and this money is paid to the people who live there. As a result of this carbon fee, companies have reduced their pollution and increased using alternative sources of energy, which has driven down the price for these alternatives. 

This would be a great thing to do in the U.S. It is a win-win situation for all. Supporters of this kind of carbon fee are as diverse as Exxon-Mobil, conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, as well as former Vice President Al Gore and the Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

All people, regardless of political belief, are going to leave the world to their grandchildren, and this would be a great way to insure that it is habitable.

STEPHEN SACKS

FRESNO

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/01/24/4344697_make-polluters-pay.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/01/24/4344697/make-polluters-pay.html

Don Gaede - 1/20/2015 - Pope speaks for the planet

 Pope speaks for the planet

January 20, 2015

   Kudos to Pope Francis for his upcoming encyclical regarding climate change. Contrary to some commentators, this is a quintessentially conservative approach. What is more conservative than preserving the only planet that we have been given?
   The idea that humans are the main cause of climate change is hardly a wild-eyed, far-left idea. The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of over a thousand scientists from 130 countries, declared last year that the evidence for a warming planet is “unequivocal,” and it is “extremely likely” that humans are the main cause.
   The pope’s concern for the poor is reflected in his concern about climate change, since its effects will be most harsh on those least able to cope with it. According to The World Bank, the areas most vulnerable to climate change, such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Sub-Saharan Africa, also have the largest number of poor who are dependent on agriculture.
   May the pope continue to be a voice for the voiceless, including our own planet Earth.

Don Gaede
Fresno

http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/01/20/4340302/pope-speaks-for-the-planet.html

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/01/20/4340302/pope-speaks-for-the-planet.html#storylink=cpy