Comment Log Display

Tracy Jensen
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Jensen,

I urge you to reject the false climate solutions of cap and trade
and a carbon tax in favor of direct source reductions, i.e.,
emission reductions made directly at the source of pollution.

A 2016 report found that industrial facilities are more often
located in low-income communities and communities of color, and
that many of these industrial polluters (which are covered by the
cap-and-trade market) have had increases, not decreases, in
localized greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, carbon cap and
trade has not been successful in achieving significant and rapid
emission reductions anywhere it has been implemented.

Similarly, a carbon tax has not been proven as an effective means
to reduce emissions. British Columbia's carbon tax actually saw an
increase in taxed emissions of 4.3 percent from 2009 to 2014. Given
the immediate threat we now face, we do not have time to "wait and
see" if a carbon tax will work a decade from now. Rapid,
significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed now.

Only by adhering to the legislature's mandate for "direct source"
reduction approaches and by forgoing market "solutions" will
California achieve the significant and swift emission reductions
our planet needs. This can be achieved if ARB adopts the
"Alternative 1: No Cap-and-trade" scenario of its scoping plan.

Please enact meaningful protections for our climate through direct
source reductions, rather than market schemes like cap and  trade.

Sincerely,

Howard Cohen, Ph.D.

Palo Alto, CA 94306-3004