When you get your ballot for the Nov. 8 election, please remember to turn it over. In the 1st Hampshire and 1st Franklin 1st districts, the back side of your ballot is where you’ll find Question 5, the “carbon cash-back” question. I hope you’ll vote yes. The question is non-binding, so it will simply inform our representatives on Beacon Hill about our priorities. It reads: “Shall the representative from this district be instructed to introduce and vote for legislation that puts a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels to compensate for their environmental damage and returns most of the proceeds in equitable ways to individuals as a cash-back dividend?” Overcoming the climate crisis means cutting carbon emissions. A carbon fee on fossil fuels is widely known to be an effective way to reduce carbon emissions fast. A cash-back dividend would compensate Massachusetts residents for price increases. Making that dividend equitable is critical. That would mean most middle-income residents would break even, while lower-income residents, with their smaller carbon footprints, would come out ahead. The burden would fall, instead, on those with the biggest footprints, and they’re the ones who can best afford to pay the true cost of carbon pollution. It has been free for too long.
Linda Butler
Leeds