BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 3, 2021
Climate change already costs this country hundreds of billions of dollars every year in recovery from wildfires, floods, and wild wind storms. If it continues its trajectory, costs will rise. George Shultz, of Ronald Reagan’s cabinet, has already proposed the essential solution to the climate conundrum. It is carbon pollution pricing, which returns all revenues via equal monthly Carbon Dividend checks to all taxpayers. The plan is supported by 3,589 U.S. economists, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. President Joe Biden has his work cut out. And so does the Republican Party, transforming from a focus on appointing judges, to a party that sees the U.S. as world leader again, tackling every issue: climate change, COVID, reviving the economy, addressing racial and economic inequities, and international cooperation with bipartisan fervor. That’s my kind of Republican Party. ~ Peter Garrett, Citizens Climate Lobby, Winslow