One of the problems with addressing climate change is that many people think it will be "too expensive" or that we will have to live in a cave. But there is a way to address climate change that will create millions of jobs and grow the economy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half. Here is a TEDx video of a talk I gave last month that explains "Fee and Dividend":
With a "Fee and Dividend" policy, a rising price is put on the carbon content of fossil fuels. The fee is paid by the fossil fuel companies at the mine, well, or port of entry. 100% of the money collected -- every penny -- is paid out to every legal resident on an equal basis. Because wealthy folks generate far more CO2 that the average person and because the government generates a lot of CO2 but does not earn a dividend, most people would earn more from the dividend than they pay in higher energy and product prices! Furthermore, as the policy works to reduce carbon emissions, the monthly payments would decrease and the public would demand that the fee be increased! What other "tax" works like that?!
Also, to reduce global emissions, a border duty would be put on products coming from countries that do not have their own fee on carbon. Those countries would be faced with the choice of sending lots of money to the United States or keeping it themselves. They will chose to keep it themselves.
Here are links to a summary and full report of the economic analysis of Fee and Dividend that I refer to in my talk:
Summary
Full Report
Some people wonder if the WTO will allow the border duty I propose. Here is a paper that discusses that and concludes it is allowed under WTO rules:
WTO and Carbon Fees