Letter: Market, not government, should decide energy policy

President Trump has decided to repeal President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which focused on phasing out coal-powered electricity generation. He has the authority to do that, since the Clean Power Plan was an act of a president, not Congress.

But the Supreme Court has ruled that carbon dioxide is an atmospheric pollutant, so it is covered under the Clean Air Act passed by Congress. So the Clean Power Plan must be replaced by something else equally effective.

Trump’s objection that the Clean Air Act targets coal is a fair criticism, as combustion of gasoline and natural gas are also large sources of carbon dioxide.

Trump’s criticism can be easily addressed with a substantial fee on the carbon content of fossil fuel at the source (mine, well, imports). Let the market, not government, pick from among the many available energy sources. To minimize the impact on the economy, return all of the resulting revenue to the economy as an equal dividend to all residents, and put a tariff on the carbon content of imports. Congressman Newhouse, work with the House Climate Solutions Caucus to pass such legislation. If Congress won’t do that, President Trump can.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Letter: Market, not government, should decide energy policy."