Think twice before splurging during this oil glut

We are all cheering as the price of gas falls to new lows each day. Time to go out and buy that big truck or SUV? No, it is time to go out and buy a Volt or a Prius. We’ve been through these periods of oil glut in the past and the price rebounds before you know it and you are stuck with a gas guzzler with prices rising.

Our gas is cheap now because of the surplus of oil on the world market, resulting primarily from new sources like the tar sands in Alberta Canada and shale formations in the U.S. These sources – more costly to extract and process than conventional oil – became profitable only when oil shot above $80 a barrel. When oil breached $100 a barrel, the gold rush was on, producing the current glut. As the price falls these sources will become unprofitable and wells will be shut down.

In addition to being frighteningly damaging to the land and water, these new sources add to the fossil fuels being burned around the globe. This new cheap gas isn’t cheap when you factor in the damage being done by global warming resulting from CO2 released. Here just one example, Miami is planning to spend almost a billion dollars to retrofit its drainage system to handle the rising sea level.

It is time to get off the oil market roller coaster. It is time to begin to heal our planet not choke it with more CO2. It is time to put a price on carbon production and let the market shift consumer/business choices to cleaner alternatives.

Opponents say this would cripple the economy. Not if you return the tax on carbon to the American households. This exciting idea is called Carbon Fee and Dividend.

A study from Regional Economic Models, Inc. looked at a carbon fee starting at $10 per ton of CO2 and rising $10 per ton each year. Revenue from the fee was divided equally among households and refunded as monthly dividends, offsetting higher energy costs and then some for most Americans. Under this Carbon Fee and Dividend approach, REMI found that, after 20 years, CO2 emissions went down 50 percent and 2.8 million jobs were created, primarily because of the economic stimulus of recycling carbon fee revenue into the pockets of people likely to spend the money.

This policy is revenue-neutral so the fee does not go into the maw of government it comes back to the people. It uses this free market approach to reduce the demand for fossil fuels and increase the attractiveness and the supply of alternative energy.

Today, while we are enjoying the 50 percent off sale on a barrel of oil, is the perfect time to initiate a policy to apply a carbon fee of 10 cents a gallon. It would not be a shock at the pump, it would be a treat to the household when their dividend arrives and most importantly it would put us on the road to avoiding a climate change catastrophe.

Desta Horner, Seminole County Chapter and Mark Reynolds, national director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.