Right time for dividend

A climate solution that is effective, good for people and the economy, and has bipartisan support. That is the Holy Grail for people who know 97 percent of valid scientific studies conclude that today's greenhouse gas levels destabilize Earth's life-support systems and who accept the moral responsibility to do something about it. The quest can seem futile. Multiple reports warn global warming is accelerating. Deadly weather of unprecedented scale and severity strikes weekly. Instead of facing adversity with honesty and courage and offering bold solutions grounded in ethics to our greatest problems, too many politicians pursue policies based on some combination of partisanship, polling and profit. Media's focus on the polarization of Americans perversely intensifies it. At such a time comes an act of hope and unity.

Six U.S. representatives - Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick, Francis Rooney and David Trott, and Democrats Ted Deutch, Charlie Crist and John Delaney - introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2018 this week. This pure climate policy will drive America's carbon pollution down, bringing climate change under control. It will spur American technology innovation and ingenuity.

Economists and scientists agree this solution is effective, comprehensive, and simple. It reduces harmful air pollutants. People receive carbon dividend money to use however they wish, which helps low- and middle-income Americans. America gains 2.1 million additional jobs by transitioning to an economy based on clean energy. If you are honest enough to face climate change, bold enough to try a new solution and courageous enough to move toward a future based on clean energy, ask your Representative to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Energy innovation and carbon dividend: it's the right thing to do. It's the right time to do it.

Julie Nowak

Grayslake