Letter - Are we ready to send a strong message to elected officials about climate change?

To the editor:

I was not surprised that President Obama opted for “executive only” action to reduce our use of coal, oil and natural gas. He’s convinced the House of Representatives would block any market-based solution. It’s ironic that a block of legislators from safe districts can defy the will of the American people.

Republicans should adopt the advice of their own economists, folks like Al Laffer (Reagan’s adviser) who wrote “reduce taxes on something we want more of (income) and raise taxes on something we want less of (carbon pollution) and it’s a win-win.” Greg Mankiw (Romney’s adviser) said, “Economists have long understood that the key to smart environmental policy is aligning private incentives with true social costs and benefits. That means putting a price on carbon emissions so households and firms will have good reason to reduce their use of fossil fuels and to develop alternative energy sources.”

Yes, Mr. Laffer and Mr. Mankiw, a whole lot of ordinary Americans agree with you and have indicated in poll after poll that they are worried about climate change and would accept a carbon tax (levied at the source of the mine, wellhead, port of entry) even if it drove consumer costs up. We are ready to sacrifice but are we ready to send a strong message to our elected officials? Or will we continue to rely on Obama to do the job for us?

Jeanne Johnson,

Minnesota 7th Congressional District,

Citizens Climate Lobby

Alexandria, MN

Tags: opinion, letters