Dutchess County Carbon Tax

Do you think the voters of our county should be allowed the same opportunity that voters in Boulder, Colorado recently took advantage
of last month by passing a referendum for a local carbon tax to fight
global warming?

Former Vice-President Al Gore recently proposed a carbon tax in a speech at New York University in September.
["Gore's Climate-Policy Speech Today at NYU: A Carbon Freeze and a Carbon Tax Proposed"-- gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/9/18/152449/358]

From Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" ClimateCrisis.net website:

"Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian
Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.

If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences:

Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000
people a year. Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050. More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050."

It's time for the Dutchess County Legislature to be pro-active on this and pass a home rule request to Albany asking for permission for a carbon tax.

If you agree, sign on to this petition and forward it to all you know-- letters sent to [email protected] helpful as well.

Let it start here.

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
Clinton/Rhinebeck
(845) 876-2488
[email protected]
RealMajorityProject.blogspot.com

p.s. See "In Emissions Battle, U.S. Cities Vie to Be 'Greenest'"
by Ron Scherer [Christian Science Monitor 10/25/06]-- at CSMonitor.com/2006/1025/p01s01-uspo.html-- over 300 U.S. mayors so far have signed on to the "Climate Protection Agreement" resolution at the bottom of this petition; see Seattle.gov/mayor/climate/ for full list of sign-ons.

p.p.s. Also see:
nytimes.com/2006/11/18/us/18carbon.html;
usatoday.com/printedition/news/20061101/a_carbontax01.art.htm;
priceofoil.org/2006/11/20/551/;
money.cnn.com/2006/11/09/news/economy/bc.environment.carbon.tax.reut/index.htm.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From ci.boulder.co.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6136&Itemid=169...

Nov. 8, 2006 - Boulder Voters Pass First Energy Tax in the Nation

Contact(s):
Sarah Van Pelt, Office of Environmental Affairs, (303) 441-1914
Yael Gichon, Office of Environmental Affairs, (303) 441-3878
Jodie Carroll, Media Relations, (303) 441-3155
http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/

City of Boulder voters approved Initiative 202, the Climate Action Plan
Tax, on Tuesday, making this the first time in the nation that a municipal
government will impose an energy tax on its residents to directly combat
global warming. The tax will be collected by the local electric utility
company based on the amount of electricity used.

This energy tax is also referred to as a carbon tax since most of Boulder's
electricity comes from the burning of coal which is directly related to
carbon or greenhouse gas emissions. The tax will be used to fund the city's
Climate Action Plan, which was approved by City Council in June 2006.

The average household will pay $1.33 per month and an average business will
pay $3.80 per month. The tax will generate about $1 million annually
through 2012 when the tax is set to expire. Estimated energy cost savings
from implementing the Climate Action Plan are $63 million over the long term.

Boulder's City Council adopted the goals of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002 to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The Climate Action Plan is a roadmap to meet the Kyoto goal and was created
by staff, energy experts in the community and local stakeholders. The main
strategies are to increase energy efficiency, promote renewable energy and
alternative vehicle fuels, and reduce vehicle miles traveled.

Boulder's Mayor Mark Ruzzin signed the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement
along with 328 other mayors from around the nation representing over 53.2
million people. This agreement promotes strong policy resolutions calling
for cities, communities and the federal government to take actions to
reduce global warming pollution.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From MSNBC.msn.com/id/15651688/...

"City residents vote to tax selves for carbon use: Boulder surcharge on
coal aims to reduce emissions tied to global warming"
[MSNBC 11/10/06]

Voters in a Colorado university town nestled in the foothills of the Rocky
Mountains have passed the country's first municipal carbon tax to fight
global warming.

Boulder, Colo., will charge residents and businesses the carbon tax based
on how much electricity they use. Most electricity in Boulder is generated
at plants that use coal, which produces more of the main greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide, than natural gas or oil.

Carbon taxes have been a subject of debate in the United States, the
world's leading consumer of fossil fuels, as some communities try to reduce
the output of gases scientists link to global warming...

$1.33 a month for homes

The Boulder tax will raise average home bills $1.33 per month and
businesses will pay an extra $3.80 per month, according to the town. The
tax will generate about $1 million for the city annually. Utility Xcel
Energy will collect the tax.

The money will fund energy audits for homes and businesses and visits by
energy experts to advise homeowners how to save energy through means such
as energy efficient lighting and insulation.

Residents that choose to purchase wind power will not be assessed the tax.

The measure introduced in August by the City Council won with about 58
percent of Tuesday's vote, said Sarah Van Pelt, Boulder's environmental
sustainability coordinator...

Energy savings estimated

Van Pelt said electricity customers, many of whom live in older, drafty
homes, would eventually save money through the efficiency adjustments. "We
really didn't think of the tax as a stick approach," she said.

The city figures energy cost savings of $63 million over the long term.

The city council in 2002 adopted the goals of the Kyoto climate treaty
signed by most industrial countries, and created its own Climate Action Plan.

"The main strategies" of the plan, the city said in a statement, "are
to increase energy efficiency, promote renewable energy and alternative
vehicle fuels, and reduce vehicle miles traveled."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From ClimateCrisis.net/thescience/...
[official website for Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"]

Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by
trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is a good thing because it
keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal,
gas and oil and clearing forests we have dramatically increased the amount
of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and temperatures are rising.

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it's
already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a
natural occurrence.
[According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this
era of global warming "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and
"the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence of the
global climate."]

The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.

We're already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are
being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and
droughts is increasing.

* The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last
30 years.
[Emanuel, K. 2005. Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the
past 30 years. Nature 436: 686-688]

* Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian
Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
[World Health Organization]

* The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the
past decade.
[Krabill, W., E. Hanna, P. Huybrechts, W. Abdalati, J. Cappelen, B. Csatho,
E. Frefick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J, Sonntag, R. Swift, R. Thomas and J.
Yungel. 2004. Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning. Geophysical
Research Letters 31]

* At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to
global warming, moving closer to the poles.
[Nature]

If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences.

* Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000
people a year.
[World Health Organization]

* Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf
ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
[Washington Post, "Debate on Climate Shifts to Issue of Irreparable
Change," Juliet Eilperin, January 29, 2006, Page A1]

* Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.

* Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.

* The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
[Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. 2004. Impacts of a Warming Arctic.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Also quoted in Time Magazine,
Vicious Cycles, Missy Adams, March 26, 2006]

* More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.
[Time Magazine, Feeling the Heat, David Bjerklie, March 26, 2006]

There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral
obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big
differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to
solve this problem is now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From Mayors.org/uscm/resolutions/73rd_conference/en_01.asp ...

2005 ADOPTED RESOLUTION

ENDORSING THE U.S. MAYORS CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT

WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has previously adopted strong policy
resolutions calling for cities, communities and the federal government to
take actions to reduce global warming pollution; and

WHEREAS, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the
international community's most respected assemblage of scientists, has
found that climate disruption is a reality and that human activities are
largely responsible for increasing concentrations of global warming
pollution; and

WHEREAS, recent, well-documented impacts of climate disruption include
average global sea level increases of four to eight inches during the 20th
century; a 40 percent decline in Arctic sea-ice thickness; and nine of the
ten hottest years on record occurring in the past decade; and

WHEREAS, climate disruption of the magnitude now predicted by the
scientific community will cause extremely costly disruption of human and
natural systems throughout the world including: increased risk of floods or
droughts; sea level rises that interact with coastal storms to erode
beaches, inundate land, and damage structures; more frequent and extreme
heat waves; more frequent and greater concentrations of smog; and

WHEREAS, on February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol, an international
agreement to address climate disruption, went into effect in the 141
countries that have ratified it to date; 38 of those countries are now
legally required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on average 5.2 percent
below 1990 levels by 2012; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America, with less than five percent of the
world's population, is responsible for producing approximately 25 percent
of the world's global warming pollutants; and

WHEREAS, the Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction target for the U.S. would
have been 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012; and

WHEREAS, many leading US companies that have adopted greenhouse gas
reduction programs to demonstrate corporate social responsibility have also
publicly expressed preference for the US to adopt precise and mandatory
emissions targets and timetables as a means by which to remain competitive
in the international marketplace, to mitigate financial risk and to promote
sound investment decisions; and

WHEREAS, state and local governments throughout the United States are
adopting emission reduction targets and programs and that this leadership
is bipartisan, coming from Republican and Democratic governors and mayors
alike; and

WHEREAS, many cities throughout the nation, both large and small, are
reducing global warming pollutants through programs that provide economic
and quality of life benefits such as reduced energy bills, green space
preservation, air quality improvements, reduced traffic congestion,
improved transportation choices, and economic development and job creation
through energy conservation and new energy technologies; and

WHEREAS, mayors from around the nation have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate
Protection Agreement which, as amended at the 73rd Annual U.S. Conference
of Mayors meeting, reads: The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement A.
We urge the federal government and state governments to enact policies and
programs to meet or beat the target of reducing global warming pollution
levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, including efforts to: reduce
the United States' dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the
development of clean, economical energy resources and fuel-efficient
technologies such as conservation, methane recovery for energy generation,
waste to energy, wind and solar energy, fuel cells, efficient motor
vehicles, and biofuels; B. We urge the U.S. Congress to pass bipartisan
greenhouse gas reduction legislation that includes 1) clear timetables and
emissions limits and 2) a flexible, market-based system of tradable
allowances among emitting industries; and C. We will strive to meet or
exceed Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing global warming pollution by
taking actions in our own operations and communities such as: 1. Inventory
global warming emissions in City operations and in the community, set
reduction targets and create an action plan. 2. Adopt and enforce land-use
policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact,
walkable urban communities; 3. Promote transportation options such as
bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling
and public transit; 4. Increase the use of clean, alternative energy by,
for example, investing in "green tags", advocating for the development
of
renewable energy resources, recovering landfill methane for energy
production, and supporting the use of waste to energy technology; 5. Make
energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements,
retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting and urging
employees to conserve energy and save money; 6. Purchase only Energy Star
equipment and appliances for City use; 7. Practice and promote sustainable
building practices using the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program or
a similar system; 8. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal
fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education
program including anti-idling messages; convert diesel vehicles to
bio-diesel; 9. Evaluate opportunities to increase pump efficiency in water
and wastewater systems; recover wastewater treatment methane for energy
production; 10. Increase recycling rates in City operations and in the
community; 11. Maintain healthy urban forests; promote tree planting to
increase shading and to absorb CO2; and 12. Help educate the public,
schools, other jurisdictions, professional associations, business and
industry about reducing global warming pollution.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorses
the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement as amended by the 73rd annual
U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting and urges mayors from around the nation
to join this effort.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The U.S. Conference of Mayors will work in
conjunction with ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and other
appropriate organizations to track progress and implementation of the U.S.
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement as amended by the 73rd annual U.S.
Conference of Mayors meeting.