Sue Michalson, president of the Villages Environmental Club, welcomed speaker Bob Tancig, from the Citizen Climate Lobby, Wednesday evening at the SeaBreeze Recreation Center.
Tancig began his talk by citing scientific studies which suggest at our current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, we could see global average temperatures rise as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. “Climate change has major consequences,” Tancig said. “It can have negative effects on humans and wildlife, like the manatees and sea turtles; inundate our coastlines, affect our food supply and our fresh drinking water. Already Miami Beach sometimes floods at high tide.”
“The world is in a very bad way.” he continued. “When we declare war on terrorism or ISIS, we also declare war on our environment. All the troop movements and bombs burn fossil fuels and cause more carbon pollution.
Tancig and the CCL are working to enact a revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend program — as a way to put a price on carbon pollution and encourage a switch to cleaner energy sources. “To preserve a livable world for our children and grandchildren, we must reduce our use of coal, oil and gas by transitioning quickly to clean sources of energy. We advocate speeding this transition with a consumer-friendly fee on carbon-based fuels — one that returns all revenue to the public.”
The CCL’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eighty percent by 2050 — commensurate with what the latest scientific research deems necessary.
“We need to start small, and increase predictably — giving businesses predictable energy prices and the economy a smooth transition. The fee would be collected only once — at the first point of sale — the mine, wellhead or border crossing. We already collect sales taxes at these locations — this doesn’t repeal, prevent or discourage other private, state, regional, national or international strategies from reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We will protect the vulnerable — for lower-income Americans, the money that is refunded matches or exceeds the price increases that come about in goods and services.”
The government would not keep any of the fee funds — they would be returned to American families in the form of credits from tariffs collected from fossil fuel suppliers.”This method would level the playing field,” Tancig believes,”by letting markets and localities pick the winners among clean, renewable sources of energy. Every family would get the same credit — people who use more fossil fuels would not get higher credits — this is meant to discourage the use of oil, gas and coal.”
By raising the price of fossil fuels, Tancig and the CCL believe, the price of cleaner energy sources would be more competitive. The CCL seeks bipartisan support for their concept, but alluded to the challenges faced from the well entrenched fossil fuel and utility company lobbyists. “The United States should be a leader in decarbonizing our world,” Tancig said, “and encourage other nations of the world to follow that lead.”
While acknowledging he was preaching to the choir Wednesday night, Tancig described the CCL’s mission as education, inspiration and action. “There are many good ideas, and a lot of good people are in favor of them,” he continued, “but what we all will have to do to be successful in affecting this energy shift is to organize and mobilize — write letters to editors and convince members of both parties in our Congress that this is the direction America should take.”
“Our country needs a national energy policy, with short and long range plans. We need to convince Congress the coal and oil reserves in our ground are ‘stranded assets.’ We can’t use them. We need to stop exploration for fossil fuels and invest the money to develop clean energy sources instead.”
Originally from South Florida, Tancig lived in Miami as a young man, and in New York City attending college and graduate school. He became the executive director of a homeless shelter upon returning to Gainesville in 1980. Since 2002, he worked around the state of Florida with a group involved in programs designed to address peace and justice issues, and to promote a culture of peace and sustainability. He subsequently became interested in climate change and believes we need to understand “the situation we are creating for ourselves as a consequence of powering our economy with fossil fuel energy.”
Tancig invited members of the audience to become active Citizen Climate Lobbyists in their local community by promoting a carbon fee and dividend program among neighbors and in the Halls of Congress.
Bob Tancig may be reached at [email protected]; 352 214-1788. Sue Michalson, who founded the Villages Environmental Club (originally called The Village Greens) seven years ago, may be reached at [email protected].