Column: Adopt carbon cashback bill to make transition to clean energy

Climate change affects the lives of most Hawaii residents, often in untold ways: elders suffer severe dehydration and strokes, students experience oppressive heat, drought and wildfires occur more often, coral reefs die, and storms damage infrastructure and interrupt goods and services.

Hawaii needs cost-effective climate action that protects low- and middle-income households; it needs to transition quickly to clean energy and transportation. House Bill 2278, a bill in the state Legislature, can accomplish this by putting a gradually rising tax on fossil fuels and passing the collected money to residents as a refundable tax credit. This will help residents adapt to the price increase of goods and services while allowing a dramatic reduction in climate-changing emissions.

HB 2278 is a carbon cashback policy and is the most cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed needed to help Hawaii achieve its clean energy goals. The bill has passed all state House committees and has moved to the Senate. It is now vital that all senators support it; the bill must pass, and eventually go to Gov. David Ige to be signed into law.

A carbon fee is the least intrusive government solution. It requires much less government than regulations or government spending. There is broad agreement among thousands of economists that carbon pricing will effectively reduce emissions. Real-world examples back this up. As of September 2021, 27 countries have implemented a carbon tax. There are more than 60 carbon pricing initiatives implemented by governments across the globe, covering 21.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.

The consequences of inaction are costly. If we don’t proactively address climate change, we continue to see the rising price tags for disaster response, crop insurance, flood prevention, disease and geopolitical turmoil. By aggressively reducing emissions, we can prevent even more expensive climate disasters afterwards.

Solving climate change will require big investment in new emissions reduction infrastructure and technology: wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, building retrofits, etc. While most investments in innovation will come from the private sector (corporations, small businesses, households, etc.), some will be funded by public investments at the local, state and national levels. Innovation and investment in clean energy are important but must be focused on rapidly reducing emissions. A price on carbon emissions creates an even marketwide price signal, encouraging all innovations to reduce emissions.

Hawaii has the opportunity to contribute to significant emissions reductions and eliminate its dependence on fossil fuel imports while helping its residents along the way. All of us need to quit using fossil fuels soon and quickly. Carbon pricing is a very effective and fair way to do this.

Hawaii has been a leader in climate action. When we pass a carbon pricing policy, we will not only contribute to critical climate action. We will inspire our nation to do the same.

I urge all Hawaii senators to vote for HB 2278.

Carol Cam, a clean-energy advocate, is a co-leader for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Maui Chapter.