BRATTLEBORO — The carbon-pollution tax initiative launched recently, Energy Independent Vermont, makes sense for our state.
Destructive weather like Tropical Storm Irene and “hundred-year” floods, which now come every couple of years, are becoming the new normal, and we can't afford to ignore this reality. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to tackle the source of this problem head on: pollution from fossil fuels.
It is outrageous that fossil-fuel companies are allowed to dump pollution into our atmosphere for free, while sticking us with the cleanup bill after storms like Irene. This plan will make these companies pay their fair share for their pollution, while boosting clean energy and helping us get off fossil fuels altogether.
And a great benefit of this proposal is that it will save us money. By making our public buildings more energy efficient, it will reduce property taxes, and by tightening up our homes, it will cut our fuel costs.
Ninety percent of the pollution tax would be offset by tax cuts to individuals, businesses, and institutions, including rebates for low-income Vermonters, with 10 percent invested in energy efficiency.
The state has set ambitious energy and climate goals, and a carbon-pollution tax is a realistic way to achieve them, using the power of the dollar.
Putting a price on carbon is a powerful, market-driven mechanism for keeping more of our hard-earned dollars in the state. It is the single biggest thing we can do as Vermonters to build a clean, renewable, and affordable energy future.