100+ Businesses, Activists Urge Congress to Enact Fee on Carbon

In a letter delivered today to key Members Congress, 100+ businesses, organizations, and individual activists called upon Congress to support a fee on the carbon content of fuels as part of the broader mix of strategies for addressing climate change.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NETWORK

8606 Greenwood Avenue, #2; Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-588-4741; sustainable-energy-network@hotmail.com


News Release

100+ ORGANIZATIONS, ACTIVISTS TELL CONGRESS -
IT IS TIME TO ENACT A FEE ON THE CARBON CONTENT OF FUELS
AS PART OF THE MIX OF STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Contact: Ken Bossong (301-588-4741; 202-293-2898, x.201)


WASHINGTON DC -- In a letter delivered today to key Members and committees of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, more than 100 businesses, organizations, and individual activists called upon Congress to support a fee on the carbon content of fuels as part of the broader mix of strategies for addressing climate change.

Stressing the need "to employ a broad range of strategies to significantly reduce total energy use and to encourage the rapidly expanded use of non-fossil and non-nuclear renewable sources of energy," the letter argued that "some form of user fee based on the carbon content of fuels is [also] essential."

Furthermore, "a carbon fee is arguably the most transparent, universal, equitable, understandable, and immediate way to internalize the true environmental cost of consuming the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change." Therefore, "we believe that some form of carbon fee must be made a key element of a wider strategy for addressing climate change and it should be among the measures considered and enacted by the U.S. Congress in the very near term."

To address potentially adverse impacts on lower-income citizens, the signers on the letter added that a carbon fee "should be accompanied by tax-shifting - and possibly revenue-neutral - offsets such as reductions in payroll or other taxes, larger tax credits for lower-income citizens, or increases in programs such as weatherization and mass transit that directly assist citizens to reduce their total energy use."

The full text of the letter and list of signers follows.

A copy of the letter and list of signers may be requested by sending an e-mail to sustainable-energy-network@hotmail.com.

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The Sustainable Energy Network is a nationwide network of almost 400 organizations, businesses, and individual activists promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency as solutions to climate change and dependence on energy imports and nuclear power.

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SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NETWORK
8606 Greenwood Avenue, #2; Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-588-4741; sustainable-energy-network@hotmail.com


IT IS TIME TO ENACT A FEE ON THE CARBON CONTENT OF FUELS
AS PART OF THE MIX OF STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE


March 20, 2007

Members
U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510/20515

Attn: Climate Change, Energy, or Environmental Policy Staff Person

Dear Senator/Representative:

We, the undersigned business, environmental, consumer, faith-based, energy policy, and other organizations and individuals are writing to urge the U.S. Congress to enact some form of fee on the carbon content of fuels as part of a larger mix of strategies for addressing climate change.

Given the immense scope and immediacy of the problem of global climate change, it is necessary to employ a broad range of strategies to significantly reduce total energy use and to encourage the rapidly expanded use of non-fossil and non-nuclear renewable sources of energy. The mix of policies should include much tighter mandatory efficiency standards for vehicles, appliances, lighting, buildings, electricity generation, and industrial processes as well as the required use of renewable energy for electricity, transportation fuels, and heating and cooling.

Greatly increased tax incentives to encourage the use of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies as well as much higher levels of funding for research, development, and - particularly - procurement and deployment of sustainable energy technologies are also needed.

In addition, however, some form of user fee based on the carbon content of fuels is essential.

A carbon fee is arguably the most transparent, universal, equitable, understandable, and immediate way to internalize the true environmental cost of consuming the fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. Such a fee is also relatively easy to administer and makes the best use of the marketplace to encourage a rapid shift in energy use away from coal, oil, and gas towards more energy-efficient and/or renewable energy sources.

We recognize the concern that such a fee could, initially, pose some hardship for lower-income consumers and therefore believe that it should be accompanied by tax-shifting - and possibly revenue-neutral - offsets such as reductions in payroll or other taxes, larger tax credits for lower-income citizens, or increases in programs such as weatherization and mass transit that directly assist citizens to reduce their total energy use. Thoughtfully crafted offsets could actually produce net benefits for recipients.

In addition, a portion of a carbon fee could be earmarked for a dedicated fund to invest in, and encourage, expanded use of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies or for other important social purposes such as deficit reduction.

However designed, though, we believe that some form of carbon fee must be made a key element of a wider strategy for addressing climate change and it should be among the measures considered and enacted by the U.S. Congress in the very near term.

We appreciate your consideration of these views and look forward to working with you on this most important issue.


Sincerely,

(Organizational Signers - Listed by Organization Name)

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
San Luis Obispo, CA

Bryn Richard
Blue Trillium (Landscape Architecture - Sustainable Design)
Morton, PA

Avram Friedman
The Canary Coalition
Sylva, NC

Elizabeth C. Battocletti
The Carmel Group, LLC
Reston, VA

W. Donald Hudson, Jr.
The Chewonki Foundation
Wiscasset, ME

Chris Fried
Chris Fried Solar
Vineyard Haven, MA

Deb Katz
Citizens Awareness Network
Shelburne Falls, MA

Keith Gunter
Citizens' Resistance at Fermi Two
Monroe, MI 48161

Raya Ariella, Climate USACampaign Coordinator
Climate Crisis Coalition
South Lee, MA.

Carlos Rymer
Coalition for Global Warming Solutions
Union City, NJ

Michael J. Keegan
Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes
Monroe, MI

George Burmeister, President
Colorado Energy Group, Inc.
Boulder, CO

Tam Hunt, Energy Program Director
Community Environmental Council
Santa Barbara, CA

Nancy Burton, Director
Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone
Redding Ridge, CT

Dean Remboldt, Chair
Mary Mitchell
Dakota Resource Council
Dickinson, ND

Valerie Heinonen, o.s.u.
Dominican Sisters of Hope
Mercy Investment Program
Sisters of Mercy Regional Community of Detroit
Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk-U.S. Province
New York, NY

Stephen Brittle
Don't Waste Arizona, Inc.
Phoenix, AZ

Alice Hirt
Don't Waste Michigan
Holland, MI

Al Fritsch
Earthhealing, Inc.
Ravenna, KY

Dan Brook
Eco-Eating
San Jose, CA

Mahlon Aldridge, Vice President Energy Programs
Ecology Action
Santa Cruz, CA

Joel N. Gordes
Environmental Energy Solutions
West Hartford, CT

Stephen Dvorak, P.E.; President
GHD, Inc.
Chilton, WI

Peter Meisen
Global Energy Network Institute
San Diego, CA

William Dunlay
Good Energy Engineering
Hollis Center, ME

Christopher LaForge
Great Northern Solar
Port Wing, WI

Ben Kaufman
GreenWorks Realty
Seattle, WA

Jennifer O. Viereck, Director
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
Tecopa, CA

Lynn M. Laws, Interim Director
Iowa Environmental Council
Des Moines, IA

Michelle Kenyon Brown, Executive Director
Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW)
Iowa City, IA

Daniel Ziskin, PhD
Jews Of The Earth
Denver, CO

Susan Peterson Gateley
Lake Shore Environmental Action
Wolcott, NY

Paul Gallimore, Director
Long Branch Environmental Education Center
Leicester, NC

Richard Komp PhD, President
Maine Solar Energy Association
Jonesport, ME

Peter Lowenthal Executive Director,
MD-DC-VA Solar Energy Industries Association.
Bethesda, MD
Charlottesville, VA

Mark Haim
Missourians for Safe Energy
Columbia, MO

Steve Weinberg, President
National Foundry Products, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA

Judy Treichel
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Las Vegas, NV

David Radcliff
New Community Project
Elgin, IL

Lynne Kurilovitch, Renewable Energy Instructor
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Socorro, NM

Bill Holmberg
New Uses Council
Vienna, VA

Christine Donovan, Executive Vice President
New York Solar Energy Industries Association
Endicott, NY

Liz Merry, Executive Director
NorCal Solar Energy Association
Davis, CA

George Crocker, Executive Director
North American Water Office
Lake Elmo, MN

Wells Eddleman
North Carolina Citizens Research Group
Durham, NC

Larry Bell
North East Arizona Energy Services Company (NEA-ESCO)
Concho, AZ

Norman T. Baker, PhD
Northstar Nurseries
Sequim, WA

David A. Kraft, Director
Nuclear Energy Information Service
Chicago, IL

Judi Friedman
People's Action for Clean Energy, Inc.
Canton, CT

Linda Nicholes
Plug in America
Anaheim, CA

Bruce A Drew, Steering Committee
Prairie Island Coalition
Minneapolis, MN

Qadwi Bey
R.A.Energy International, Inc.
Cleveland, OH

Michael Welch
Redwood Alliance
Arcata, CA

Roy Morrison
Roy Morrison & Associates, LLC
Warner, NH

Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center
Philadelphia, PA

Alan Durning
Sightline Institute
Seattle, WA

Ruth Kuhn, SC
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Corporate Responsibility Committee
Mount St. Joseph, OH

Sr. Joanne Lamert
Sisters of St. Dominic
Akron, OH

Nancy Seubert, Coordinator of the Justice, Peace and Sustainability Office
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Monroe, MI

Jeremy Maxand
Snake River Alliance
Boise, ID

Ned Ryan Doyle
Southern Energy & Environment
Etowah, NC

Scott Sklar
The Stella Group, Ltd.
Arlington, VA

Stuart Magruder, AIA, USGBC
Studio Nova A Architects, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA

Ken Bossong, Executive Director
SUN DAY Campaign
Takoma Park, MD

Rona Fried
SustainableBusiness.com
Huntington Station, NY

Bob Walker
Sustainable Energy Resource Group
Thetford Center, VT

Paul Rosen
Sustainable Spaces, Inc.
Sebastopol, CA

John F Neville
Sustainable Systems Consulting
President, Sustainable Arizona
Sedona, AZ

Jo Ann Jansing OSU
Ursuline Sisters Leadership Team
Louisville, KY

John Blair, President
Valley Watch, Inc.
Evansville, IN

Beth Sachs
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Burlington, VT

Glenn Cannon, General Manager
Waverly Light and Power
Waverly, IA

Buffalo Bruce, Board Chair
Western Nebraska Resources Council'
Chadron, NE

David Nicholson, President
Windhunter Corporation
Sun City Center, FL

Chris Herman
Winter Sun Design
Seattle, WA

Janet Brandt, Executive Director
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation
Madison, WI


(Individual Signers - Listed by Last Name)

Sr. Jean Marie Ballard
Ferdinand, IN

Richard W. Benster
Mercer Island, WA

Christopher E. Bingham
Vashon, WA

James M. Corson
Seattle, WA

Dana Dick
Seattle, WA

Robert Fairchild
Dreyfus, KY

Rev. Bonnie Faith-Smith
Cambridge, MA

Ellen M. Garduno
Edmonds, WA

Sabodh K. Garg, Ph.D.
Del Mar, CA

Ted Glick
Bloomfield, NJ

Peter Harnik
Arlington, VA

Marie D. Hoff, Ph.D
Bismarck, ND

Steven H. Johnson
Annapolis, MD

Evgeny Kolev, Ph.D.
Mt. Prospect, IL

Edward Kramer
Houston, TX

Luke Lundemo
Jackson, MS

Elizabeth C. Moore
Lakewood, CO

Stephen J. Pew
Huntington Beach, CA

Cordula Robinson
Somerville, MA

Ellen Rubinstein
Madison, WI

Lorna Salzman
New York

David H. Shepard
Coronado, CA

Beverly Smith
Cottonwood, AZ

Jennie Stephens
Shrewsbury, MA

Mark Wilson
Columbus, OH

Niels Wolter
Madison, WI

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