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RESOLUTION OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERS URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO ENACT THE ENERGY INNOVATION & CARBON DIVIDEND ACT OF 2019, H.R. 763.
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WHEREAS, an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ?C above pre-industrial levels in October 2018 warning that global warming is likely to reach 1.5?C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.
WHEREAS, the United Nations climate science body said in a monumental climate report that we have only 12 years left to make massive and unprecedented changes to global energy infrastructure to limit global warming to moderate levels; and
WHEREAS, the United States government released its Fourth Annual Climate Assessment in November 2018 reporting that the impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across the country, and that more frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities; and
WHEREAS, conservative estimates by the world's climate scientists state that to achieve climate stabilization and avoid cataclysmic climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be brought to 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050; and
WHEREAS, presently the environmental, health, and social costs of carbon emissions are not included in prices paid for fossil fuels, but rather these externalized costs are borne directly and indirectly by all Americans and global citizens; and
WHEREAS, to begin to correct this market failure, Congress can enact the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act to assess a national carbon fee on fossil fuels based on the amount of C02 the fuel will emit when burned and allocate the collected proceeds to all U.S. Households in equal shares in the form of a monthly dividend; and
WHERE...
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