<
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/16/van-hollen-environment-polluters-pay-climate-fund-act/>
"
Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, represents Maryland in the U.S. Senate.
Global warming has reached “unprecedented” levels and is causing catastrophic
damage across America and the world, according to a new report from the United
Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
That report, based on more than 14,000 peer-reviewed studies, makes two things
clear: Fossil fuel pollution is driving this crisis, and we have no time to
waste in transitioning to a clean-energy future. This shift will require
considerable resources, and it is only fair that the corporations that have
profited from dirty energy should help fund the solutions to this dire
situation.
That’s why this month, I led a group of fellow senators in announcing new
federal legislation that would require the biggest polluters — mostly
mega-wealthy oil companies — to begin helping foot the bill to address the
climate crisis. The Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act is based on a simple
premise: Polluters should pay to help clean up their mess, and those who
pollute the most should pay the most.
The idea is similar to the Superfund legislation Congress passed in the 1980s
to clean up concentrated hazardous waste sites. Many of my Republican
colleagues support that program, voting just last week to increase fees on
companies that contribute to that waste as part of the bipartisan Senate
infrastructure bill. Now, our very atmosphere is a de facto Superfund site. My
bill requires that the largest greenhouse gas polluters — like companies that
deal with hazardous waste — must help pay to address the harm they have
caused."
Via Robert Sanscartier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
