This is the Citizens' Climate Lobby Charlotte area’s official page. Would you like to actively take part in an interesting, well focused, committed organization and its policy proposal that covers many bases and will be vital to the economic strength, health and well-being of our community, and yes, even help sustain the planet? All members of our community are welcome to become a CCL vol
unteer no matter your party affiliation! As a CCL climate advocate you will have direct engagement in the policy process. As an active volunteer with our local chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby you will help disseminate greater community on the CCL and our Carbon Fee and Dividend policy proposal to inspire Congress to enact CF&D. By your taking part, you will help make all the difference to the economic well-being and health of our community and world. But we need your active participation now. Please either check us out on www.citizensclimatelobby.org, hear an introduction call, register online, or attend our monthly meetings. We pledge to you that, as a CCL climate advocate, you will have the training and support to succeed that includes: interesting, informative, and engaging training online, national and regional calls, participate in fun, challenging D.C. lobby days, regional conferences, and monthly local chapter meetings. We will seldom ask you complete surveys, and CCL usually only solicits for financial donations at year’s end. Therefore, we invite you to get involved with us now, on a monthly basis, as we ramp up local efforts to respectfully achieve the following:
Build relationships with members of Congress to help them gain the political will to introduce or support, and enact our Carbon Fee and Dividend policy proposal into law. Build relationships with members of Congress so they also sign on to the Bi-partisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which currently has nine states as members. Build relationships with local community, business, education, government, and faith leaders so they learn of the CCL and its bi-partisan board of directors, and of our CF&D policy, which covers important, positive bases, and is market-driven and revenue neutral. Build relationships with your local business, government, education, and faith leaders to they meet with us to endorse our Leadership Letters that CCL will deliver to Congress in 2017. Here is our Carbon Fee & Dividend Legislative Policy:
1. Causation: Whereas the weight of scientific evidence indicates that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities including the burning of fossil fuels and other sources are causing rising global temperatures,
2. Mitigation (Return to 350 ppm or below): Whereas the weight of scientific evidence also indicates that a return from the current concentration of more than 400 parts per million (“ppm”) of carbon dioxide (“CO2”) in the atmosphere to 350 ppm CO2 or less is necessary to slow or stop the rise in global temperatures,
3. Endangerment: Whereas further increases in global temperatures pose imminent and substantial dangers to human health, the natural environment, the economy, national security, and an unacceptable risk of catastrophic impacts to human civilization,
4. Co-Benefits: Whereas the measures proposed in this legislation will benefit the economy, human health, the environment, and national security, even without consideration of global temperatures, as a result of correcting market distortions, reductions in non-greenhouse-gas pollutants, reducing the outflow of dollars to oil-producing countries and improvements in the energy security of the United States,
5. Benefits of Carbon Fees: Whereas phased-in carbon fees on greenhouse gas emissions (1) are the most efficient, transparent, and enforceable mechanism to drive an effective and fair transition to a domestic-energy economy, (2) will stimulate investment in alternative-energy technologies, and (3) give all businesses powerful incentives to increase their energy-efficiency and reduce their carbon footprints in order to remain competitive,
6. Equal Monthly Per-Person Dividends: Whereas equal monthly dividends (or “rebates”) from carbon fees paid to every American household can help ensure that families and individuals can afford the energy they need during the transition to a greenhouse gas-free economy and the dividends will stimulate the economy, therefore the following legislation is hereby enacted:
1. Collection of Carbon Fees/Carbon Fee Trust Fund: Upon enactment, impose a carbon fee on all fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases at the point where they first enter the economy. The fee shall be collected by the Treasury Department. The fee on that date shall be $15 per ton of CO2 equivalent emissions and result in equal charges for each ton of CO2 equivalent emissions potential in each type of fuel or greenhouse gas. The Department of Energy shall propose and promulgate regulations setting forth CO2 equivalent fees for other greenhouse gases including at a minimum methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons, and nitrogen difluoride. The Treasury shall also collect the fees imposed upon the other greenhouse gases. All fees are to be placed in the Carbon Fees Trust Fund and rebated to American households as outlined in #3 below.
2. Emissions Reduction Targets: To align US emissions with the physical constraints identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to avoid irreversible climate change, the yearly increase in carbon fees including other greenhouse gases, shall be at least $10 per ton of CO2 equivalent each year. Annually, the Department of Energy shall determine whether an increase larger than $10 per ton per year is needed to achieve program goals. Yearly price increases of at least $10 per year shall continue until total U.S. CO2-equivalent emissions have been reduced to 10% of U.S. CO2-equivalent emissions in 1990.
3. Equal Per-Person Monthly Dividend Payments: Equal monthly per-person dividend payments shall be made to all American households (½ payment per child under 18 years old, with a limit of 2 children per family) each month. The total value of all monthly dividend payments shall represent 100% of the net carbon fees collected per month.
4. Border Adjustments: In order to ensure there is no domestic or international incentive to relocate production of goods or services to regimes more permissive of greenhouse gas emissions, and thus encourage lower global emissions, Carbon-Fee-Equivalent Tariffs shall be charged for goods entering the U.S. from countries without comparable Carbon Fees/Carbon Pricing. Carbon-Fee Equivalent Rebates shall be used to reduce the price of exports to such countries. The State Department will determine rebate amounts and exemptions if any.
