Vote yes for a fair carbon policy, no to scandals

This summer's ComEd scandal has once again caused Illinoisans to lose faith in our politicians and legislative processes.

We can only wonder what were all the "tweaks" to clean energy regulations that ComEd sought as it lavished contracts on government employees. Followed by another clean energy scandal in Ohio, both are examples of the risks of unscrupulous manipulation when we pursue a clean energy future solely through regulation, subsidies and enforced emission standards.

A transition to a low-carbon economy requires systemic change to our energy and transportation industries. Trying to design all of the changes with regulations, however well-meaning, will inevitably lead to disappointment. Paid lobbyists will swing into action as they did in Illinois and Ohio to gain business advantage instead of reducing emissions. The loopholes will flow, followed by the court fights. At best, a watered-down set of legislation, regulations and court decisions will emerge years later, instead of the emissions reductions we need now.

But there's a different approach: A pricing-based policy that is simple, fast, transparent and fair. By collecting a carbon emission fee as the fuel enters the supply chain, we can make the price of oil, coal and gas energy products reflect their true costs. To avoid fueling the next scandal, we can ensure transparency by having the fees distributed to the public as a carbon dividend, with everyone getting an equal share.

Fossil fuel companies that should pay more will do so, and their customers will get cash as compensation for potentially higher costs. Renewables will thrive with a level and fair playing field. Private capital markets will assume the risks for clean energy investments, not governments with our tax dollars. A carbon fee corrects today's market failure, which has society paying for fossil fuels' damaging effects and allows free markets to work the way they should.

The distribution of the carbon dividend back to households on a per-capita basis ensures that the transition to renewables is environmentally just and effective. This has been confirmed by multiple economic studies, including a 2019 study by Columbia University that projected "power sector emissions [would] decline rapidly once the tax is in place and fall 82-84 % below 2005 levels by 2030."

A recent study from a research affiliate at the University of Pennsylvania found that 68% of individuals would receive a carbon dividend at least as much as the increased costs associated with the fee, with 96% of the lowest income households receiving more than enough to cover their increased costs.

The courts have clearly established that the government can assess such fees, avoiding needless delays from legal challenges. Emissions will drop instead of waiting for lawsuits to make it through the courts. Setting the fee at the start of the supply chain drives the needed reductions in countless downstream carbon emissions without waiting for regulations to be negotiated and challenged. An emission-based fee approach is eminently straightforward, eliminates the opportunity for corrupt influence, minimizes legal challenges, delivers cleaner air and develops renewable energy more quickly than any other option.

It is encouraging that more and more of our elected officials are moving toward a fee-and-dividend approach. Various forms of this legislation have been introduced in the House and Senate. One, calling for 100% of the fee distributed as a dividend (revenue neutral to the government), has 82 co-sponsors including several of our own local representatives.

As you make election decisions, it is no longer sufficient to simply select a candidate who is just pro-climate and hope for the best. It is also important for you to know and influence your candidate's policy. If they cannot explain their policy in an understandable way, or if they support a plan that hands money to businesses rather than to consumers most affected by energy costs, their plan may give rise to the next clean energy scandal.

Instead, you should insist that they develop and support a climate policy that is simple, fast, transparent and fair.

• Mike Zanillo, of Kildeer, is the Illinois State Co-Coordinator for Citizens Climate Lobby. This essay is the last in a series of op-eds The Daily Herald is publishing this week in conjunction with Covering Climate Now, a global initiative of news agencies to focus attention on climate change.