Thanks to Senator Tester for helping pass the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act. It includes great wins for Montana including a pay raise for troops, resources for the Montana National Guard and for Malmstrom Air Force Base.

The 2022 NDAA will also fund the preparation of our military in dealing with the disruptive effects of global climate change.

We saw historic climate weather in 2021 with record drought, heat, wildfire, flooding and tornadic storms. Senator Tester and others see a need to take action to prepare our military for these extreme weather risks, which are likely to only become more frequent and worse with our rapidly changing climate.

However, there are two prongs of climate action that we must deal with. Disaster planning is one. But, we must not forget about mitigation.  It is not too late to put a stop to this cycle of destruction.

We know that the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century is primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels.

Our economy has been built on fossil fuels over the past century and we know we cannot make the needed transition to clean energy overnight.

A solution that will help us gradually transition without hardship is to charge a low but rising fee on fossil fuel producers. Then, return all the funds collected to Americans. This is commonly known as Carbon Fee and Dividend or Carbon Cashbacks.

It works by sending a market signal to our electric co-ops, our business owners, our local auto dealers, and so on, that adopting clean energy is the way to stay competitive and attract customers.

So, Senator Tester, you are doing a fantastic job at preparing for impending disaster, but please also consider adding a price on carbon pollution so we can keep disasters from getting worse. We want our “carbon cashbacks” so we can jump in well-prepared and start living comfortably in a clean energy economy.

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