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From: Kathleen Maloney <tbicoordinator@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>Date: June 22, 2007 3:45:03 PM PDTSubject: Peter Barnes' Commons Model Makes NewsNewsweek Recognizes Sky Trust As “Most Politically Practical Way to Slash Greenhouse Emissions”
Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter has endorsed a “Sky Trust” model as the most politically viable way to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions. The idea was developed by Peter Barnes, author of Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons and co-founder of Tomales Bay Institute, an activist think tank dedicated to reinventing the commons. Sky Trust is a commons-based policy solution because it recognizes the atmosphere as a shared resource that should be managed for the common good, not for the private benefit of polluters.
In his on-line column, “Between the Lines,” Alter writes: “There’s a way to slash emission of greenhouse gases that’s politically practical … It’s called a ‘sky trust’ and it’s roughly analogous to the Alaska Permanent Fund, which since 1976 has sent every Alaska resident a dividend check each year with a share of the state’s oil revenue.” The full column can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19228483/site/newsweek/.
The Sky Trust model is based on the notion that the atmosphere is a commons that belongs to everyone. Polluters would pay a fee to emit their greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and a majority of the revenue would be returned in equal shares to all Americans.
“It’s great to see opinion leaders like Newsweek recognizing Sky Trust. Now it’s time for Congress to take this idea seriously,” Barnes said. “Climate change solutions need to take into account who benefits and who pays as we tax, cap and/or regulate carbon dioxide emissions. There’s a real danger that ordinary citizens — not polluters — will pay the economic costs.”
The political difficulty in reducing greenhouse gas emissions lies in the fact that all plans — including a carbon tax and a so-called ‘cap-and-trade’ system — will raise energy prices substantially, costing most Americans hundreds to thousands of dollars annually. Sky Trust solves this problem by returning most of the price increases to households in an efficient and equitable manner. Americans who conserve energy will get back more than they pay in higher prices.
Under the Sky Trust plan, all companies that bring burnable carbon into the economy would be required to buy permits for the carbon content of their fuels. Each year the number of permits would be reduced.
Revenue generated from the sale of permits would be placed in a trust, managed by independent trustees. Earnings from the trust would be returned to US residents as dividends and used for public investments that accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.***************Tomales Bay Institute believes that many forms of wealth — nature, knowledge, culture, public institutions — belong to everyone, and should be managed for the common good. Tomales Bay Institute seeks to advance the commons as a compelling economic, political and cultural paradigm through its policy papers, conferences, activist initiatives and websiteTomales Bay InstitutePO Box 14967Minneapolis MN 55414651-336-4202
