The kids were finally tucked in.  Closing the bedroom door Mike saw Jen hunched over the kitchen table; it was littered with receipts and tax forms. “We gonna get a refund this year Hun?” Mike asked.  “Don’t know yet; sure hope so.  The car tires are just about shot,” she smirked.

       Jen and Mike are making a go of it financially but not by much.  Their combined income approaches $40,000 about as much as most of their friends.  But with 2 kids, food, rent, misc. bills, and the up-keep on a 10-year-old car they’d fall behind if it weren’t for Mike’s mom helping out with daycare.  All in all though they feel lucky.  They’re healthy and have things to look forward to like the up-coming camping trip in Governor Dodge State Park next month.

        Much later…“Woo Hoo!  A $283 refund.  New tires all around!” Jen chirped.  Mike smiled and then nodded to a stack of donation requests from several organizations including many environmental groups.  “So what about these?” Mike asked.

        “Might as well recycle ‘em, maybe next year,” Jen conceded.   If they could, Mike and Jen would donate more in support of a healthy environment.  Clean air and water are a high priority for both of them.  Swimming with the kids, camping, hunting and fishing are the things they enjoy the most.  So with a tinge of disappointment and frustration they headed to bed.

        The following evening as they put dinner together…”Hey Hun, all the buzz at work today was about how we might have this huge new transmission line cutting across the county near the park.  They say it’s not even needed, and we’ll all be paying for it through our light bills.  Some of the guys are really steamed!”

       “Seems like a bad idea,” replied Jen. “Did you see the email about a new law some senior Republicans are promoting?  It would place a fee on carbon-based fuels and then actually pay us all a dividend from the money collected.  Pretty cool!”

       “Hmm,” Mike pondered, “pay more for an unneeded scar on the landscape OR get paid and have cleaner air.”  That night, without spending a penny, Jen and Mike phoned and emailed several elected officials expressing their concerns.  “Well that felt good,” Jen thought, “helping protect this, the only home we’ll ever know.  After all we’re here forever…Earthbound.”

           Ralph lifted one bleary eyelid.  He’d dozed off watching late night re-runs and now tried to re-focus on the screen.  What the…?  Was that James Baker, former Chief of Staff under Presidents Bush and Reagan, selling insurance?!?

          “This is the just the policy we need!  It’s like when President Reagan led the world in response to the depletion of the ozone layer.  First, find the consensus of the scientific community then initiate an insurance policy against devastating and perhaps irreversible damage to the atmosphere – a Reagan-like insurance policy addressing global warming,” pitched Baker.  The crawler across the bottom of the screen read, “The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends.”

          “But that’s not all!” exclaimed George Schultz, Sec. of State under Reagan and Sec. of Treasury and Labor under Nixon.  He hoisted a large mock-up check made out to John Q. Public. “If we act now…” And he ticked off the benefits:

• Tax carbon from fossil fuels at $40 /ton as it enters the economy i.e. at the mine, oil/gas well, or port.  Then raise that amount 2% above inflation each year.
• Distributed the money collected through the Social Security Administration sending quarterly dividends to all American households - about $2,000/household the first year.
• Eliminated the regulations of the Clean Power Plan.
• Let the marketplace drive the reduction of fossil fuel use and carbon emissions.  By 2025 half as many greenhouse gasses would be emitted as compared to the Clean Power Plan.
• Create even more renewable energy jobs, which already outnumber fossil fuel industry jobs.

          Then the camera panned a roomful of eminent, senior Republican statesmen including Henry Paulson, Sec. of the Treasury under G.W. Bush and Martin Feldstein, Reagan’s Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.  They commenced to shaking hands and clapping each other on the back while the announcer urged, “Call Now! White House operators are standing by!”
            Ralph awoke on the couch the next morning.  “Crazy dream,” he murmured.  Later, as he scanned his favorite news sites, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, he realized that in his bleary state he had mistaken a news report for a late-night TV pitch.
            “Hmm…” thought Ralph. “Republicans taking the lead on addressing climate change!  Fewer regulations, rising employment, less pollution, and money in my pocket.  What’s not to like?  It’ll help create a sustainable future right here where we’re forever…Earthbound.”