YCCD RealClearEnergy Op-Ed
Chris Johnson, Managing Director, Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends
Carbon Dividends: A Plan for Republicans on Climate Change
With the inauguration of President Biden, Democrats officially control the White House and Senate, and the environmental left is already dreaming up ways to push Green New Deal-style policies that would be detrimental to the American economy, without doing much to mitigate climate change at all. Republicans in the Senate are well-positioned to push back against many of these misguided proposals, but in a divided Senate in which Vice President Kamala Harris is the deciding vote, simply being the party of “no” is neither sufficient, nor wise. That is, unless Republicans respond with a comprehensive emissions-reducing solution of their own: the Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan; a policy rooted in the conservative principles of free markets and limited government.
Young people across the country are increasingly concerned about the threat posed by climate change. 85% of Republicans under 40 list climate as a top concern, and 69% of Republican voters overall are worried that the party’s stance on climate change is hurting them with young voters. It is not just the environmentalists and activists on the Left who want action on this issue, it is a wide swath of young voters, including young Republicans.
That is why Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends (YCCD) was founded: to champion a conservative solution to climate change, and to provide a clear contrast to the failed command-and-control solutions that have dominated the climate conversation for far too long. Co-founded in December of 2019 by 30 top leaders from within the youth wing of the Republican Party, YCCD has been showcasing the broad support among young conservatives for a free-market climate solution.
Read the full op-ed here!