Letter: Taxpayers, not consumers, pay huge costs to subsidize fossil fuels

There are many costs of fossil fuels that consumers do not directly pay. These socialized costs are instead subsidized by taxpayers, your insurance payments, and those affected by the health and climate impacts of emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

Taxpayers, not carbon consumers, pay hundreds of billions of dollars each year for the military costs of ensuring access to Middle East oil.

Insurance premiums are higher for everyone, not just carbon consumers, to cover health care and life insurance payouts to coal miners and people afflicted with respiratory illness from coal mining and particulates from fossil fuel combustion.

Taxpayers, not carbon consumers, pay for flood damage as sea level rises and storms become more intense.

Farmers, not carbon consumers, suffer when irrigation water runs out because of depleted snowpack.

These costs are huge. It is frankly unfair that consumers do not pay for these costs when they purchase gasoline, natural gas and coal. Anyone objecting to socialism should agree that consumers should pay the full cost.

To change this, ask Congressman Newhouse to support a national fee on fossil fuel carbon and return the revenue to the economy as a uniform monthly bank deposit for every legal resident.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Letter: Taxpayers, not consumers, pay huge costs to subsidize fossil fuels."