Cecelia and GJ’s modest dwelling on the lake outside Moore, Oklahoma is their only home.  After a lifetime of hard work they enjoyed the slower pace of retirement years.  That tranquil life changed dramatically on May 19, 2013.  The EF-3 tornado that swept through Cleveland County, OK ripped siding and shingles from their home and sucked the stovepipe right up through the roof as Cecelia and GJ clung to each other on the couch.  Nine months later, after GJ had suffered both a stroke and a heart attack, our volunteer crew from Iowa Co. arrived to help make repairs. 

        Cool air sliding off the Rockies mingling with warm, moist gulf coast air creates the ideal conditions for “Tornado Alley” in Oklahoma.  From 1961 to 1990 Oklahoma averaged forty-seven tornadoes annually.  By 2010 that number had grown to sixty-two tornadoes annually.  Last year the twister that ravaged Cecelia and GJ’s property was one of eighty-two total for that year.

        As earth’s atmosphere becomes gradually warmer, water evaporates more readily.  The warm air combined with that additional humidity make conditions ripe for extreme weather events.  Not good news for folks like Cecelia and GJ, nor for our country that foots the bill for cleaning up and rebuilding.

        The few repairs our crew was able to complete were deeply appreciated as evidenced by the warm brownies Cecelia presented us with at break time.  Perhaps the greater good our society could offer would be to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the warming of the atmosphere.  Then we can begin to reverse the conditions that foster these extreme weather events.

        And we must.  Because like Cecelia and GJ’s simple cottage on the lake, this earth is the only home we’ll ever know.  We are forever…Earthbound.

        Name a common goal of Nike, the World Bank, Barack Obama, Coca-Cola, and Henry Paulson, George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary.  Did you answer “economic growth?”  Bingo!  Now name a common concern.  You may be surprised to learn that according to a recent New York Times article the answer is the changing climate.  All noted that the detrimental effects of climate change are putting an increasing drag on economic growth throughout the world.

        What to do?  In his state of the union address President Obama gave us his plan.  “I directed my administration to set new standards on the amount of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air.”

        How about a better solution that uses one of America’s greatest strengths - free market innovation?  Instead of government control we should employ a policy favored by conservative economists including Arthur B. Laffer, senior economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan; the Harvard economist N. Gregory Mankiw, who was economic adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the head of the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank.  They, along with numerous folks on the other side of the political aisle agree the best solution is to pass carbon fee and dividend legislation.

            How would such legislation work?

• A fee is collected on carbon-based fuels at the source (well, mine, port-of-entry).
• This fee starts at $15 / ton of CO2 emitted (less than a dime per gal. of gas) and increases by $10 / ton each year.
• All of the money collected is returned to every American household as a dividend. Estimates are that the dividend will put 2/3s of households financially ahead in spite of slowly rising carbon-fuel costs.
• The predictably rising price on carbon will send a clear market signal about the future costs of carbon–based fuels.  Alternative energy sources become increasingly competitive.
• Adjustments at the border will encourage our trading partners to adopt similar policies. Those who do will not be put at a disadvantage.

        Businesses, international organizations and world leaders all realize we are on the cusp of an energy renaissance.  Through free market innovation America is poised to profit by leading this new energy era.  We can make America and the world an economically secure and an environmentally sustainable home.  And we must.  After all, this is where we’ll spend our entire lives.  We are and always will be…Earthbound.