To the Editor:

A fact sheet from the Pew Charitable Trusts, dated Aug. 2016, says “Floods and storms are becoming more intense in Wisconsin”. In May ’18, flooding along the Fox River in southeast WI caused Governor Walker to declare a state of emergency in three counties. In June, there was flooding in northwest WI, and Governor Walker declared a state of emergency in five counties.

According to almost all climate scientists, flooding will get worse until greenhouse gas emissions are substantially reduced. Fortunately, there is now a bi-partisan Climate Solutions Caucus (CSC) in the US House of Representatives that is dedicated to reducing human-caused climate change. We can be proud that two of our WI representatives, Mike Gallagher & Ron Kind, are among the 43 Democrats and 43 Republicans in the CSC.

Among the many potential actions the CSC could take, a revenue neutral Carbon Fee & Dividend (CFD) is, in my opinion, the best. CFD would assess a fee on all fossil fuels at the point where they enter the economy (well, mine, port). All revenue, minus administrative costs, would be returned to households.  Most households would get more back in dividends than they pay out in increased energy costs.

CFD would accelerate implementation of clean energy technologies we already have and would increase development of more and even better clean energy technologies.  A study by Regional Economic Models, Inc. indicates that CFD will increase jobs and improve the American economy.

Patrick Dreese, Ph.D.
Stevens Point