Our fossil fuel dependence is responsible for climate change, which is now causing extreme weather and natural disasters worldwide. This existential threat will continue to increase unless urgent action is taken to eliminate our dependence. To remedy this, we must account for fossil fuels’ true cost to society.

Love-hate relationship

Fossil fuels have transformed the world’s economies, enabled innovation, increased productivity and enhanced the quality of life for many. The concentrated energy found in oil, gas and coal enables the technology, automation and work that we have grown to cherish and depend upon.

Fossil fuels, however, have contributed to high environmental and societal costs. The extraction, processing, transport and burning of coal, oil and gas have resulted in egregious consequences — pollution of our air, land and water, and climate change. The costs of the resulting diseases and deaths, natural disasters and the environmental restoration and adaptation measures required to mitigate the impacts are borne by society. This situation contributes to incredible profits for the industry at the expense of everyone else.

Much like the destructive addictions that we’ve seen in history (e.g., the nicotine addiction fueled by Big Tobacco and the recent opioid epidemic spurred on by the pharmaceutical industry), the profit motive and ignorance of social costs have contributed to benefits for a few and an immense burden for many. In the case of our fossil fuel addiction, the profit is at the expense of our planet.

The social cost

The fossil fuel industry has avoided an estimated $2.5 trillion in health and environmental costs each year worldwide. This avoidance suppresses the prices of fossil fuels below their true cost, encourages consumption, and escalates climate change. Who pays? We do, and, in many cases, we aren’t even aware of it.

These unaccounted consequences to society factor into the social cost of carbon — the estimate of the damage caused by emitting one additional ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The federal government estimates this cost at $51 per ton.

Sharing the cost of carbon

The Hawaii Legislature has introduced Senate Bill 2732 and House Bill 2278, which will assess taxes on fossil fuels around $51 per ton of carbon dioxide, which the Federal government currently estimates as the marginal cost of carbon emissions. At that rate, fossil fuel companies would be charged for costs currently being shouldered by society — they would be paying their fair share.

A carbon tax would discourage the consumption of fossil fuels and result in price increases for products that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The increased (more accurate) costs will lead people to conserve energy, shift to energy-efficient appliances and equipment, adopt electric cars and renewable energy, and other behaviors that will reduce fossil fuel dependence.

This shift is feasible as the needed technologies already exist and are dropping in prices. There are also local and federal incentives to offset the costs.

It gets better.

A carbon pricing policy that includes distributing the money back to residents will provide people with cash to adjust to the expected price increases for fuels and energy. Lower and middle-income classes are likely to come out ahead, and they will benefit more if they adopt lower-carbon lifestyles. This distribution of carbon tax revenue to people is a feature of legislative bills SB 2732 and HB 2278.

Fighting our fossil fuel addiction is about a transition to clean energy options that would allow us to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. It’s a fight to ensure a livable world for our kids and future generations.

A carbon tax will help us make this transition.

Jaymen Laupola is a program officer at the East-West Center and chapter lead for Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) Honolulu; Barry D. Solomon, a professor emeritus of environmental policy at Michigan Technological University, is a member of CCL Maui; Hilo resident Noel Morin, a state coordinator for CCL in Hawaii, is a board member of various organizations focused on climate action, sustainability and community resilience.