Scientists: Decarbonize Now!

Here’s an open letter from a number of top scientists to key elected officials that includes this excerpt:

As our nation reels from extreme heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and abnormally warm ocean waters fueled an early start to a projected more active than normal Atlantic hurricane season, we are reminded that climate change is here and already exerting a fearsome toll on people, critical ecosystems, and our economy.

Your leadership is urgently needed to seize the small window of opportunity that remains to limit the most catastrophic impacts of climate change now and for future generations.

Those of us who care about the quality of the planet we leave to our descendants are very happy to see this, though let’s be real:  the very best we can hope for here is the passage of a $3 trillion infrastructure plan, with some of it going to cleaning up our energy and transportation sectors.  What’s needed is further incentive to decarbonize, which will require a revenue-neutral tax on carbon, i.e., one whose revenues from carbon hogs are immediately distributed to those who consume less.

The Carbon Fee and Dividend is by far the best of the many ways of addressing this issue.