Comment Log Display

To: California Air Resources Board

Re: Comments on the 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan Update for
Achieving California’s 2030 Greenhouse Gas Target 

Thank you for considering these comments. Since 2006 my comments
have consistently encouraged the California Air Resources Board
(ARB) to return most or all of the auction proceeds to the public
following the Cap & Dividend model, archived online at
www.carbonshare.org.

California has shown leadership on climate change by creating a
price on carbon. It can improve the program in its next phase, and
perhaps gain supporters for the program’s extension, by eliminating
subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and returning Cap & Trade
revenues back to people as climate dividends.

Currently a large portion of Cap & Trade funds go to high-speed
rail and transit-oriented development.  Emission reductions from
these areas are not expected to materialize for several decades.  A
better approach would be to return the funds back to people as a
climate dividend. The California Climate Credit showing up twice a
year on electricity bills is a good start. The state could expand
that to an off-bill per capita dividend that would be simple,
transparent, and be inclusive of disadvantaged communities not just
coastal cities. 

Many people do not understand climate dividends. It is about
transforming the economic system, not about funding specific
projects. I urge ARB staff to read Peter Barnes’ books, including
Who Owns the Sky?, Capitalism 3.0, and With Liberty and Dividends
for All.

The dividend can support climate justice in disadvantaged
communities. The climate dividend concept can be a bridge to global
anti-poverty movements focusing on the concept of "basic income,"
and international development efforts promoting "unconditional cash
transfers." In a separate effort, a climate dividend could help the
State’s considerations in establishing a State Earned Income Tax
Credit (EITC). 

The fear of “leakage” has led to the fossil fuel industry receiving
millions of permits for free (even though they mostly oppose the
program). The Petroleum Refining, Natural Gas Extraction, and
Cement sectors received over 49 million free allowances in 2016. At
$12.73 per allowance, that subsidy is worth over $629 million per
year. Reducing or eliminating this subsidy would help bolster
demand which has been lagging in recent permit auctions.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Mike Sandler