[Karl Widerquist]
Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor (under the Clinton Administration), is already on record as saying that some form of basic income guarantee is “almost inevitable” in response to the changes in the labor market brought about by changing technology. He has now release a statement endorsing BIG as a part of a strategy to address climate change. Without using the term BIG, or any of its common synonyms, Reich argues that we should tax carbon and redistribute the revenue equally to every citizen—that is in the form of a universal basic income. He made the statement on June 10th, 2014 on his Facebook page. We reproduce the entire statement below:
Robert Reich via Wikipedia
“The single best way to reduce climate change is to put a price on carbon. The big fossil fuel companies say this will hurt the economy, but they said the same when we put a price on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide – the pollutants causing acid rain — in the 1970s. We did it anyway, all but eliminating acid rain, and the economy did fine. As to carbon, we’d start with a low price – say $10 for every ton put into the air – with the price gradually rising over time. This would give energy companies an incentive to save money by reducing carbon pollution – and also spend and invest more in non-carbon energies like solar, wind and hydro power. Our electricity bills might rise, but there’s an easy fix: The money polluters pay would go into a big fund that’s then divided up and sent to every American. So even if your electricity bill goes up $10 a month, you get back at least $10 if not more. Are you with me?”
For info see: https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/809307552415176?fref=nf
