How to Improve Current Climate Legislation

May 18, 2009

1. The government should make polluters pay for the environmental harm they cause. Government should auction, not give away, pollution allowances. Every allowance dollar that is given to polluters frees them to pollute more and takes those dollars away from families and investments in a clean economy. Pollution permit giveaways only prolong the time that a polluter can delay the transition to clean technology.

2. Limit the ability of polluters to buy their way out of greenhouse gas reductions through the purchase of almost unlimited "offsets" for their pollution.

3. Require that most of the revenue generated by this proposal be returned to consumers through tax rebates, rather than going to utility companies. If utilities artificially keep consumer energy costs down, families won't have as much incentive to conserve electricity or invest in efficient appliances. Utility companies also do not have the information to equitably redistribute the reimbursements to consumers.

Detailed list of recommendations for improving climate legislation