In late 2018, a group of nine Republican and Democratic Congressional representatives co-sponsored a bill in Congress to address climate change. If enacted, the bill would reduce U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent in 12 years while not growing government, not imposing burdensome regulations on businesses, and protecting U.S. business from inequitable foreign competition. 

The bill, titled the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA), applies a gradually rising fee on fossil fuels and returns the revenues 100 percent to American households. The bill’s border-adjustment provision levels the playing field for U.S. manufacturers by imposing a fee on imports that are not subject to equivalent policies. A month or so later, a companion, almost identical bill was introduced in the Senate — also on a bipartisan basis. 

In January of this year, the bill was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis as H.R. 763 and as of this writing has 67 co-sponsors. I believe Central New York businesses should express their support and ask our representatives in Congress to co-sponsor this bill. Here is why:

1. Federal climate policy is inevitable.

President Trump’s denial of human-caused climate change in favor of implausible conspiracy theories (a “Chinese hoax”) is well-known. But this stance becomes more untenable every day and is out of step with virtually every other nation in the world, our own Defense Department, many Republicans (especially younger Republicans), and the business community, among many others. The trend, which will outlive the current administration, is inexorably toward action on the climate-change issue. The debate is already evolving toward whether we enact the kinds of policies currently being advocated by Democratic presidential candidates (e.g., the “Green New Deal”), which would be of debatable effectiveness and representative of a kind of government heavy-handedness disfavored by many in the business community, or whether we adopt more business-friendly, less intrusive market-oriented legislation. 

2. Business is becoming more supportive of action on climate change.

As science has continued to build the case that human-caused climate change is an imminent and urgent crisis, the business community is beginning to acknowledge that reality. Even companies most vested in fossil fuels like ExxonMobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell are on the record that climate change is happening and policies are needed to address it. 

Studies published by Citibank, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC), and the National Bureau of Economic Research, among others, have quantified economic impacts expected by unmitigated climate change. And earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that “climate change is a serious challenge that needs to be addressed through thoughtful policies that will have a meaningful impact” and concluding that “inaction is not an option.” 

Locally, many prominent Central New York businesses have pledged to reduce their emissions and have undertaken tangible measures to do so. 

3. Federal vs. State action

A recent op-ed appearing in The Post-Standard by Randy Wolken, president and CEO of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (or MACNY), while critical of policies being considered at the state level, stated that “we understand measures addressing climate change should be made.” He identified legitimate drawbacks that climate-change policies enacted in New York can have on manufacturers and businesses in Central New York and the state more broadly, in terms of competitiveness with other states. Policies enacted at the federal level will address such inter-state inequities and, if constructed properly, can also address “leakage” issues associated with international competition (e.g., through the border-adjustment provision of the EICDA). What’s more, because New York State’s energy sources are greener than other states, federal policies that incentivize renewable vs. fossil-fuel sources of energy can actually be to the advantage of New York’s businesses relative to other states. 

4. Businesses should support Congressional climate action.

About 60 percent of Central New Yorkers (those polled in New York’s 24th Congressional District) are worried about global warming with strong majorities favoring various climate-change policies, and the issue was prominently discussed in local debates for Congressional offices. So the choice seems clear for the Central New York business community with respect to the ever-more pressing climate-change issue: Support climate policy that is friendly to Central New York business and industry, and support our current members of Congress taking action on this. I believe that includes advocating for them to co-sponsor H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.        

Kyle E. Thomas, P.E. is the principal engineer at Natural Systems Engineering, PLLC in Syracuse. Contact him at kthomas@naturalsystemsengineering.com