Support grows for putting a price on carbon pollution

Why is there so much growing support for climate action? While extreme weather events such as the winter storms in Texas, wildfires in California and hurricanes in Florida grab headlines, the impacts of these events on individuals, businesses and public infrastructure are resulting in a growing chorus to address the cause - carbon pollution.

The impact of carbon pollution on weather patterns is well documented. The impact of extreme weather on power-grid reliability, business supply chains, transportation, tourism and public infrastructure such as stormwater management is now causing businesses, financial experts, government agencies and politicians on both sides of the aisle to call for action.

Thousands of major corporations - even major oil companies - have endorsed climate action with putting a price on carbon being one of the most preferred approaches. Other notable supporters of carbon pricing include financial experts ranging from 3,576 economists to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve. Numerous industry associations have also lined up in support of climate action, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses are under pressure from customers, employees and shareholders to reduce their impact on the environment. Companies are concerned about the physical risk of climate change on business operations such as storm impacts on power reliability, transportation and buildings. When Hurricane Harvey flooded Hewlett Packard Enterprise's largest campus in Houston, HPE announced it was moving all manufacturing operations to locations less impacted by extreme weather and promptly moved this operation to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

The Department of Defense considers climate change a national security threat for many reasons, including weather disruptions to the operations of key bases. The new secretary of defense recently announced that his top goals include tackling the climate crisis as a key priority in defending the nation. Military installations, including Norfolk Naval Station (VA), Camp Lejeune (NC) and Camp Pendleton (CA) and the Great Lakes Naval Base here in Illinois, have all been identified as at risk from climate change. Repairs, upgrades and improvements to public and private locations cost us as taxpayers and as consumers of goods and services.

The tide of public opinion has changed dramatically toward addressing climate change, as reflected in the Yale Climate Opinion poll taken last September. It shows that 89% of people in our metro area support research into renewable energy, 65% or more want corporations and the federal government to do more to address climate change and 73% support requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for their carbon pollution.

The growing need for action is causing businesses, industry associations and politicians to endorse solutions that are optimal in terms of speed and cost. While solving the crisis will require many parallel approaches including technology improvements and behavioral changes, the solution that is gaining the most support is to put a price on carbon pollution.

This approach is popular for many reasons. For one, most economists agree that it is the fastest approach to reach significant reductions. Forcing carbon producing activities such as coal-fired electricity generation to bear the true cost of production, including the cost of pollution, will level the playing field with emerging clean energy sources. This will enable them to be more price competitive and thus accelerate our transition to a clean energy economy. It does not require new regulations: it is market based. The rise in fossil fuel prices to reflect their true cost will incentivize all sectors of the economy to reduce fossil fuel consumption through efficiency measures and by seeking lower carbon energy sources. To protect lower income households from rising costs, some carbon pricing policies return some or all carbon fees to them in the form of dividends.

The impacts of climate must be addressed sooner rather than later. Carbon pricing is the fastest, most efficient way to transition to a clean energy economy. You can demonstrate your support by contacting your congressional representatives. Better yet, join with others to impact climate change solutions.

• Dan Probst, of Roselle, is a member of the Northwest Suburbs Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. Robin Weaver, of Bartlett, is a member of the Fox Valley Chapter. This is the fifth and final op-ed in a series the Daily Herald has published in conjunction with Covering Climate Now, an international collaboration of media aimed at increasing awareness of climate issues.