[GPCA Updates] NEWS -- Michigan Greens Call for Fee-and-Dividend Plan to Let People, Not Corporations, Profit from Reducing Greenhouse Gases

[Green Party of California Updates]

Green Party of Michigan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     www.MIGreens.org


**  News Release  **
**  ------------  **
    January 19, 2010





Michigan Greens Call for Fee-and-Dividend
Plan to Let People, Not Corporations,
Profit from Reducing Greenhouse Gases
=====================================
100% of Fees to Be Restored to the People;
No Cap-and-Trade Giveaway to Energy Conglomerates



The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) has adopted a
resolution supporting collecting fees on fossil fuels
based on the amount of carbon in them, with the whole
amount collected being paid back to individual users.

GPMI will promote this "fee-and-dividend" approach
to reducing carbon dioxide pollution in this year's
election campaigns and other activities.  The state
party will also offer the proposal to the Green Party
of the United States (GPUS) for inclusion in this year's
national platform.

Art Myatt, current Vice-Chair of GPMI and an engineer
working on the manufacture of solar panels, originated
the proposal within GPMI.  "We believe that resource
depletion and excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
are two crucial issues which require reduction in the
amount of fossil fuels burned," he commented.

"Instead of pursuing war for oil and global economic
growth, we need to move in the direction of sustainable,
low-carbon local economies.

"A substantial carbon fee, resulting in a substantial
dividend, would be a big step for reducing fossil-fuel
use and for rebuilding local economies."


Fee-and-Dividend Is Better
All Around than Cap-and-Trade
-----------------------------
The fee-and-100%-dividend concept has attracted attention
in recent days, thanks in part to a framework proposed by
NASA scientist James Hansen in an article in _The Nation_.

"We appreciate Dr. Hansen's pointing out clearly for all
to see why fee-and-dividend is a better approach for the
people and the environment than cap-and-trade," said GPMI
Elections Co-ordinator John Anthony La Pietra.  He added,
"GPMI hopes Hansen will come to agree that nuclear power,
like greenhouse-gas pollution, is an unacceptable threat
to both humans and the world we live in."

The cap-and-trade approach literally gives away any
financial incentives for actually reducing carbon
emissions to the corporations that already profit
from fossil fuels.  By contrast, fee-and-dividend
rewards individuals who reduce their demand for the
burning of fossil fuels -- in exact proportion to
the amount of carbon not turned into carbon dioxide
and spewed into the atmosphere.


Doing the Math -- and Making Sure that
People Hard-Hit by Energy Costs Benefit
---------------------------------------
Michigan Greens are already working on specific plans
for how to implement the fee-and-dividend concept and
help, not hurt, the people of their state.  So many in
Michigan are already suffering in the current economy --
in part because of high energy costs.

Registered professional engineer Doug Campbell has
developed one basic plan that starts with a penny fee
per kilogram of carbon exhausted into the air.

Campbell's preliminary figures show that someone with
a typical lifestyle and energy consumption like his
would pay about $40 directly in carbon fees.  If all
fees were paid back in dividends to the people on a
flat per-capita basis, he calculates, the annual
dividend would be about $200 -- five times as much.

"A significant carbon fee, resulting in a substantial
dividend to people, would be a big step for reducing
fossil fuel use and for rebuilding local economies,"
Campbell points out.

He adds, "Resource depletion, excess carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere, and the deficit resulting from
importing oil demand a reduction in the amount of
fossil fuels burned.

"Instead of pursuing war for oil and global economic
growth, we need to move in the direction of sustainable,
low-carbon local economies."


Greens Will Insist on a Plan That Saves Money,
Energy, and the Environment -- for the People
---------------------------------------------
Michigan Greens aim to have a concrete proposal that meets
three essential goals -- cleaning up the environment,
reducing energy use, and protecting the lower-income
people most affected already by rising energy costs.
The target is to have one or more such proposals ready for
discussion at the United States Social Forum, to be held
in Detroit June 22-26.

The fee-and-dividend plan will fit in with other energy
planks in the state platform.  GPMI has long called for:

    * Helping people choose and implement lifestyles that
       lower overall energy consumption.

    * Encouraging energy-efficient and low-pollution
       vehicles and buildings (and refurbishing existing
       homes and workplaces).

    * A statewide energy policy that not only addresses
       production and pricing, but also helps communities
       and individuals coordinate and reduce energy use.

La Pietra expects fee-and-dividend to play a role in several
Green campaigns this year.  GPMI will nominate candidates at
a statewide convention May 15-16 in Lansing.  Local Greens
can also nominate candidates within their counties at
caucuses until August 3.

For more information on the issues, values, and candidates
of the Green Party of Michigan, please visit the party's
homepage:




Green Party of Michigan
548 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI  48104
http://www.migreens.org
734-663-3555