We have a major problem on our hands for 2019, climate change. This issue isn’t going to solve itself and will continue to get worse if we fail to act. But there is a ray of light at the end of this dark tunnel, carbon pricing.

Carbon pricing is when a government places a fee or tax on carbon used in their country. Various countries have already put a plan like this into place like Canada and Sweden. In the example of Sweden they have the highest carbon tax to date. And from this tax they have seen a fall in emissions by 25 percent while their GDP rose by over 60 percent. This means that they were able to reduce their initial carbon emissions while their economy continues to grow. This year Canada will also start their own carbon pricing plan and this has proved successful for the providence of British Columbia where since 2008 a carbon tax has helped to reduce their emissions and grow the providence’s overall GDP.

This doesn’t mean that all carbon pricing works the same. For example, the fuel tax in France hasn’t proved well for both the reduction in emissions and the French people. That’s why for America the plan of carbon fee and dividends would work the best. This would mean the government would place a fee on carbon at the source and then return this money equally among households. Citizens Climate Lobby has a proposed plan like this where a fee of $15 would be placed on carbon and would rise by $10 each year. This money would be returned to the people to help pay for cleaner energy sources.

A price on carbon would allow for the overall emissions to be reduced in the country and this would help improve the environment. The best form of carbon pricing would be the carbon fee and dividend method. This plan would work for both the environment and the people.