A fee on carbon with revenue returned to households and a border adjustment is an effective climate policy. The Hawaii House of Representatives recently passed a resolution encouraging Congress to pass such a policy.

A price on carbon is a key to reducing carbon emissions as it focuses on systemic behavior change. It achieves this by creating financial disincentives to consume fossil-fuel intensive products and services. When coupled with a rebate of the carbon revenue, households can adapt to the cost increases of these products and services. Importantly, they can seek out lower cost (lower carbon) solutions, saving even more money in doing so. Over time, companies will respond with lower cost carbon offerings.

Measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential in managing global warming. You cannot effectively manage what you don't measure, after all.

GHGs, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect, which keeps the planet warm enough to support life. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, waste management, agriculture, and deforestation, have increased GHG concentrations in the atmosphere, resulting in a net increase in global temperatures and climate change.

Hawaii needs affordable renewable energy that is both sustainable and reliable (available 24x7). When done correctly, we can achieve this without relying on tree-burning and fossil-fuel-burning power plants that are harmful to our planet and costly to humanity.

Author and activist Paul Hawken joined the UH Hawaii Book and Music Festival Better Tomorrow Speaker Series on October 12, 2022.

A price on carbon pollution allows us to realize the full cost of fossil fuels. It allows the true cost of fossil fuel combustion to be reflected in their price. This encourages less fossil fuel-intensive products and services, investment in solutions like renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the transition away from fossil fuels.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes countless provisions, and it will take weeks, maybe months, to realize the various benefits and impacts fully. Many organizations have not wasted time in understanding the impact. Rewiring America is one such organization. It has created a calculator to estimate the impact of the IRA on household energy bills. Check it out!

Check out the latest on carbon pricing on the global stage in this article from the World Economic Forum. A price on carbon pollution is one of the most effective tools for cutting global warming emissions. Across the globe, a number of countries have implemented or are attempting to implement pricing as a means to effect necessary, economy-wide behavior changes that will encourage a shift to low carbon solutions. They represent a distinguished group of countries that are leading in efforts to mitigate climate change.
More must join this club, including countries that are the heaviest polluters.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. The dissenting opinion by Justice Kagan notes that some of those impacts include “increases in heat-related deaths,” “coastal inundation and erosion,” “more frequent and intense hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events,” “drought,” “destruction of ecosystems,” and “potentially significant disruptions of food production.” By limiting the EPA’s authority in this way, the Court has cut off one major pathway for the federal government to address the root cause of those threats. 

CCL’s Jonathan Marshall recently wrote about efforts in Hawaii to introduce Carbon Cashback, a carbon fee and dividend policy. It highlighted the grassroots effort the encourage passage of the bill and the University of Hawaii study designed to establish the impact of the policy on Hawaii’s economy, emissions, and households.

A price on carbon pollution will create the incentive to reduce our consumption of fossil fuel, increase demand for more sustainable energy and transportation, and reduce Hawaii’s carbon emissions.

Hawaii’s legislators have the opportunity to pass a bill that promises to help us reduce carbon emissions in a manner that is efficient and progressive. The carbon pricing bill - HB2278 is designed to establish a “refundable income tax credit to mitigate the effect of a carbon emissions tax on taxpayers. Amends the environmental response, energy, and food security tax to address carbon emissions.”