Paying to Pollute

 Consumers can divide science into two broad categories. The first is production science. This science gives us stuff like cell phones, cars, refrigerators, and a trip to outer space if you have the money.

The other broad category is environmental science.  This study allows us to survive by protecting the natural systems. Humans have been intrigued by nature. The early scientists were referred to as Philosophers of Nature. Early Philosophers of Nature were primarily interested in discovery by digging up, capturing, shooting, embalming, and stuffing whatever they found.

Environmental science is much more than this. Except for a few brilliant individuals like Alexander von Humboldt, people did not connect the dots to understand how nature’s systems keep us alive.

Man’s appreciation of nature started to change in the 1970s. The prolific songwriter Joni Mitchel sang, “Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” Subsequently, 504 other artists recorded her song, “Big Yellow Taxi”.

When rivers in Ohio caught on fire, we decided protecting water was important. When the sun at noon in our big cities became only a bright spot in the nighttime, we took note and scrubbed our emissions of soot. When vast forests died from acid rain, scientists we paid, discovered ways to rid our smokestacks of acid waste. The key event celebrating our natural systems is Earth Day. 50 years ago, the USA led the world by passing our successful clean air and water acts. This is when we started to understand, appreciate, and protect the worlds natural systems.

Production and environmental science rely on the same physics and chemistry. It is illogical to accept one and not the other, especially when one keeps us healthy and alive.

As man increases his consumption, cleaning up waste is becoming challenging.

Some dangerous waste is prevented by regulation. Some pollution is controlled and discouraged because we pay a price to mitigate it.  The water fee we pay not only brings us clean water but employs people to minimize the impact of our waste.  Fees also incentivize us to use resources efficiently and pollute less. Our water bill accomplishes three things. It pays for clean water. It pays the wages of those who make sure our toilet waste makes it to the treatment plant. And the fee incentivizes us to use wisely and waste less.

We pay the garbage man and the land fill system to mitigate our pollution. Garbagemen pick up our refuse and haul it away. If it is not recyclable, it goes to landfills where it is corralled. The fee we pay also incentivizes us to create less waste.

While the system is not perfect, we should take pride we do it. We have clean water. We treat our sewage. We corral our solid waste. The fees we pay should proudly remind the world, and ourselves, we can act wisely and pay for anti-pollution measures. Yes proud. This is the action of a responsible society.

As the climate disintegrates due to carbon dioxide and methane pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas, is it not common sense we implement another anti-pollution fee?

In 1900, a scientist proved we could warm earth. Since then, scientists have confirmed, unequivocally, we are warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. Today these greenhouse gasses are turning the weather nasty. Unlike the disgusting pollution of the past, which was easy to see, climate disrupting pollution has required us to imagine rather than see its consequences.

Even though temperature data accumulated by the World Meteorological Organizations and analyzed by NASA, NOAA, and many meteorological organizations have made it clear the earth is rapidly warming, fossil fuel companies have conned us for 30 years into doubting our best scientific minds. We were deceived into thinking global warming is not a big deal.

Now we can see, smell, and feel heat, drought, wildfires, and torrential downpours. We have, again, waited for things to go wrong. But, hopefully not gone.

There are fixes. Most will be needed. There is one essential and common-sense fix we have successfully used before. We do not expect someone to process our wastewater for free, do we? I do not think we expect the garbage man to come by and pick up our stinking refuse for free. Is there any logic thinking we can blow carbon pollution into the air and destroy our climate for free? Of course not.

We have the tools and technology to protect earth’s natural climate system. These tools and tech will not be implemented rapidly enough to save the climate unless we demand antipollution fees.

Everything I read informs me a new clean future will not only be clean, but far healthier, and less expensive. The fees we pay today will pay for themselves many times over.

Here is a note I wrote myself years ago:

The profound benefit of a free society is not the freedom to consume without thought or conscience. It is the freedom to wrestle with thoughts, fellow Americans, God, and most importantly our own souls. And, to do this without penalty from fellow citizens or the government. This is what makes America great.

I encourage you to do a little wrestling, talking, and calling.

·       Citizens Climate Lobby advocates for an anti-pollution carbon fee. We are volunteers.  We would love to have you onboard Team America, citizensclimatelobby.org

·       Famous quote: Horace in 65 BC, “We are just statistics born to consume resources.”  I contend, by cleaning up our waste, we are better than Mr. Horace alleges.

·       Humor in science: “Science is like magic, only real!”