College Republicans launch campaign calling for GOP to take action on climate change – By Rebecca Klar (The Hill) / Dec 11 2019
College Republicans across the country are calling on the GOP to back a conservative climate action plan, arguing that not doing so will hurt both the future of the earth and the Republican party.
The new group, Young Conservative Climate Campaign, is lobbying Republicans to embrace a “Carbon Dividends” plan which aims to reduce carbon emissions with a free-market based solution.
“What we’re hoping to do is amplify the voices of young conservatives. This really is a generational issue,” said Kiera O’Brien, a Harvard University senior who is the founder and president of the climate campaign.
“Especially given the rise of the Green New Deal,” O’Brien continued, referencing the progressive climate action proposal, “we need to have our own alternative policies, because we can’t just complain about the problem and not propose a solution.”
The group, co-founded by 25 current or former College Republican chairs representing states across the country, is focused on lobbying Republicans to back the Carbon Dividends plan. The group’s leaders claim the plan would cut carbon emissions in half by 2035 if implemented in 2020, and they said it would exceed the requirements the U.S. agreed to under the Paris Climate agreement before President Trump backed out in 2017.
Although the young Republicans don’t support the Green New Deal, which they argue is not economically viable, they also reject the GOP’s hesitation to talk about climate change and the Republican talking point that innovation will solve the issues facing the environment.
“We don’t think you can say innovation will get us there without a plan to induce [it],” O’Brien said.
The Carbon Dividends plan the group is advocating for proposes a gradually rising carbon fee. The net proceeds from the carbon fee would be returned to American citizens on a quarterly basis as a “carbon dividend.” The plan also pushes for removing carbon regulations in an effort to push businesses to innovate in a clean energy future.
Continue to article: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/473946-college-republicans-launch-campaign-calling-for-gop-to-take-action
