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Article: In Bill's Big Idea: Save the Climate, Share the Wealth; Entrepreneur Inspires 'Cap-and-Dividend' Legislation With a Payoff for Taxpayers
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 8, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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For several years, Peter Barnes has been peddling a Big Idea
about how to design climate change legislation so that it might
actually be popular. Now he might finally get his day in the sun.
The idea is simple: Make companies pay for greenhouse gas
emissions by auctioning off allowances -- then send Americans
equal checks for their share of the amount collected. He calls it
"cap and dividend," and it resembles the plan Alaska uses for
sharing oil royalties with residents by sending them annual checks.
An indication that Barnes's idea could become popular came last
Wednesday: A version of it was introduced as legislation by Rep.
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), co-chairman of the Renewable ...