To the editor:

Earth Day, 45 years later, is a global event now celebrated in over 140 nations. But every day should be Earth Day, and, despite the decades of environmental activism and environmental legislation, the effects of climate warming due to greenhouse gas emissions threatening human society more than ever. On Earth Day, many Americans might ask themselves: What can I do?

One specific step is to ask our elected representatives in Congress to pass legislation placing a fee on carbon-based fuels at the source. This fee per ton of CO2 emitted could increase each year so that clean energy is cheaper than fossil fuels within a decade. All of the money collected would be reimbursed to American households equitably. The predictably increasing price on carbon will send a clear market signal that motivates investors and entrepreneurs to develop the new clean-energy economy.

A recent econometric study by Regional Economic Models, Inc (REMI) found that a progressive carbon fee and dividend would produce a decline in CO2 emissions of 33 percent after only ten years. More important, national employment would increase by 2.1 million jobs after ten years and the Gross Domestic Product would increase by $70-85 billion from 2020 on. Despite opposition, the clean-energy economy is growing and a carbon fee will accelerate that change — a change that promises a better future for Americans and the Earth.