According to most economists, putting a fair price on carbon is the most efficient way to reduce emissions. But it’s a tough challenge. Getting a bill passed that raises revenues has a steep uphill climb in any U.S. legislature, even one as progressive as Massachusetts. The good news – momentum is growing fast in MA and so is a strong coalition to get this done in 2015! But to make it happen, we need your help.
At 7:30pm on November 20 in Johnson Chapel at Amherst College, there will be a panel + audience Q&A on Carbon Fee and Rebate, the hottest idea in climate policy today. Climate Action NOW is co-sponsoring this important event. Johnson Chapel seats over 500 people, and if we fill the hall, we can show legislators and policymakers how much interest there is in this bill. Now’s the time to learn more about the policy and get your voice heard to shape the way it will work in MA. To get to our 2020 target of cutting emissions by 25%, we have to get a bill well-launched into the 2015 legislative session that puts a fair price on carbon! Here are three ways you can help: (1) Put the date in your calendar and show up! (2) Send these links to your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, email lists…wherever you can get the word out. Facebook users: the page is: https://www.facebook.com/events/1506382286315616/. If you don’t use Facebook, you can cut and paste http://climateactionnowma.org/event-carbon-fee-rebate-panel-amherst-college-november-20/ into an email you send your friends, and go there to learn more about the event. (3) Here’s a link to the event poster. Print a few and put them up! http://carbonfee.org/flyer20th.pdf.
And – on Saturday, November 15, The Hampshire Council of Governments will host a “legislative summit” from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Middle School in Northampton. State senators and representatives from Hampshire, Hampden, Berkshire, and Franklin counties will attend. It’s a great opportunity to let our legislators know how important MA Pension Fund Divestment and the Carbon Fee & Rebate bill are to us – we hope you’ll attend! To learn more about the Legislative Summit, click here.
Quoting Dan Gatti, executive director of Climate XChange, a leader in the coalition of organizations campaigning for a Carbon Fee and Rebate, “We are not the kind of people who stand by and watch while childhood asthma rates soar, or while our neighbors are losing their homes to huge storms. We have the economic tools to reduce the fossil fuels that are damaging our health, our food supply, our environment and our economy. Let’s use them.”
Dave Roitman droitman1@verizon.net and Solomon Goldstein-Rose solomon_goldstein-rose@brown.edu
