HomeMy WebLinkAboutPackets - Council Packets (971)Presentation to Oro Valley Town Council Tucson/Oro Valley Chapter Citizens Climate Lobby January 23, 2019 Citizens Climate Lobby 10th Annual Conference & Lobby Day—June 2018 A Carbon Fee is Effective C O 3 W C W LC ca V � 7 C =No Carbon Fee =With Carbon Fee 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 2029 2031 2033 2035 Source: Regional Economic Modeling, Inc. 2014 RESOLUTION NO. 2017-83 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING NATIONAL LEGISLATION TO ENACT A CARBON FEE AND DIVIDEND PROGRAM TO REDUCE POLLUTING AND CLIMATE -CHANGING CARBON EMISSIONS WHEREAS, Pima County government is charged with maintaining and enhancing the health, safety and quality of life of all County residents, and WHEREAS, carbon emissions pollute the air we breathe and leading scientists around the world are in near -unanimous agreement that they are changing the climate of the Earth to a degree that is perilous to human habitation, and WHEREAS, carbon is a primary element in emissions impacting public health and altering our climate, and non-renewable fossil fuels are the leading source of carbon emissions, so reducing their use is necessary to slow and eventually halt the pollution of our air and the deadly changing of our climate, and WHEREAS, a carbon fee applied at the points of carbon -emissions production and fossil -fuels importation will reduce the profitability and desirability of these practices, and WHEREAS, a "carbon fee and dividend" approach is revenue -neutral, can be implemented without extensive governmental regulatory controls, and applies equally to every sector of the economy regardless of size, and WHEREAS, Pima County is resolved to support the carbon -emissions reduction of the Paris Climate Agreement, and a carbon fee and dividend program would enhance Pima County's actions under its Sustainable Action Plan to reduce carbon emissions, increase efficiency and use of renewable energy, and improve the health of County residents, and WHEREAS, such an approach at the national level could start at a relatively low rate and be increased steadily over time to minimally disrupt the economy while sending a clear and predicable price signal to businesses for them to develop and use alternative energy sources, and WHEREAS, Citizens Climate Education Corporation commissioned Regional Economic Models Inc. to conduct a nationwide macroeconomic projection of the impact of a revenue -neutral carbon fee and dividend program, and WHEREAS, this study predicted that, after ten years, such a program would lead to a 33 -percent decrease in carbon -dioxide emission, an increase in national employment of 2.1 million jobs, and an average monthly dividend to a family of four of $288, and 1 of 2 WHEREAS, a national carbon fee and dividend program would make the United States a leader in mitigating air pollution and climate change, and in promoting clean energy technologies -- encouraging other countries to adopt a similar approach, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby urges the United States Congress to enact, without delay, a carbon fee and dividend program, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby urges Congress to direct all revenue derived from the fee in this program be returned to households equitably to protect low- and middle-income residents from the impact of rising prices due to the fee, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the Board transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Senate Majority Leader, and to each of the I 1 members of the Arizona Congressional Delegation. Passed by the Board of Supervisors of Pima County, this 21 day of November , 2017. Sharon Bronson, Chair Pima County Board of Supervisors ATTEST: V TO FORM: Julie Ovstafteda, Clerk of the Board ew F agg, Deputy County Attorney 2 of 2