Charles Franklin - 2-23-2016 - Carbon tax is the way to go.

Carbon tax is the way to go

February 23, 2016

Survival of the fittest and natural selection was the way of the world until human beings came on the scene about two million years. We were able to adapt to our environment and we thrived.

We cared little of what we took from the Earth. We could do without passenger pigeons. We did not need all those buffalo. The verdict is in: People are more important than river smelt. And, once we learned how easy it was to pump oil out of the ground and all the ways it could be used, a tremor shook the world. 

For the last 100 years, we have not been good stewards of our natural resources. Now global warming is upon us. Cap and trade did not diminish toxic emissions; they were just moved around. 

Citizens Climate Lobby has offered a simple solution; carbon fee and dividend. Charge a fee that increases yearly for the extraction and importation of fossil fuels and the toxic emissions they produce. Then return the fees collected to American families to offset the rise in fuel prices. Entrepreneurs like Tesla will develop new clean energy sources. This plan can reduce toxic emissions within 10 years.

Charles Franklin, Clovis

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article61790417.html