John O'Bryan

Sometimes it seems like certain politicians won’t support climate action until hell–or Texas–freezes over. Well after last week, the climate threat is clear as can be, and it’s time for Congress to act.

On Feb. 13, a winter storm began sweeping across the U.S. Within days, the frigid conditions and ensuing infrastructure challenges led to dozens of deaths, massive power outages, and millionswithout clean water. Texas came within minutes of catastrophic failures that would have caused months-long blackouts.

Here in Marquette, the Board of Light and Power nimbly shifted fuels to enable the sale of the natural gas that it had pre-purchased in summer, allowing that gas to be used where demand was high. By switching to fuel oil–normally 4 times costlier than gas–MBLP was able to capitalize on the gas price hike, selling it back at 50 times the price paid! The $225,000 per day profits, totaling $1.2 million will be passed down to customers in the fuel adjustment credit line on bills, saving customers roughly 7% for the next 6 months.

Had solar power been a significant part of MBLP’s generation, those savings would have been even more significant. Solar energy on those sunny cold days would have significantly reduced MBLP fuel oil costs.

Renewables can increase our energy security, reduce our susceptibility to volatile fuel prices, and have a positive impact on our finances, health, and climate.

Mark Reynolds

Why are these weather events happening? Typically, a strong jet stream keeps Arctic air locked over the poles.

But as we see more variability in our climate and Arctic air warms, the jet stream weakens, gets wavy, and allows frigid air to dip down into lower latitudes.

“The large, persistent, southward dip in the jet stream responsible for this cold invasion is likely to happen more frequently in a warming climate,” climate scientist Jennifer Francis told national climate reporters. She notes that “warmer-than-normal spells” will happen more frequently, too.

As this pattern persists, we will continue to deal with challenges like power outages and unsafe or limited drinking water — life-threatening conditions in the wake of extreme weather itself. (And contrary to some claims, the outages were not due to an over-reliance on renewable energy. Not only wind turbines froze, but so did instruments, gas pipelines, coal piles, and natural gas compressors.)

There’s plenty to be said about modernizing America’s power grid, improving battery storage, and so on, to be better prepared for future extreme temperatures.

But the root challenge is the same: we’re feeling the impact of climate change here and now, and we’re running out of time to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem. We must therefore use all the tools at our disposal to curtail those emissions.

One of the most effective tools is an ambitious price on carbon that will speed up the transition to a low- or zero-carbon economy. A carbon tax can quickly slash our emissions and save lives–plus, when designed right, it can actually pay people and benefit American business. Endorsements from the scientific community, businesses, economists, and more show that this is the consensus solution.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently released a new report naming a carbon tax as one of the solutions to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced its support of a “market-based approach to accelerate emissions reductions” — in other words, a carbon price. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is a longtime supporter of this approach, advocating not just for a carbon tax but for revenue to be returned to Americans in cash.

One example of this approach is the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which garnered 85 cosponsors by the end of the last Congress. Rep Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) needs to hear from constituents encouraging him to support the policy. A simple monthly call can be impactful. A tool to remind you to do just that is available at cclcalls.org.

The extreme weather ravaging our nation should serve as a warning that our climate could one day be unbearable if we fail to take the actions necessary to rein in climate change. An effective price on carbon with money given to households can put us on the path to preserving a livable world.

Editor’s note: John O’Bryan is a volunteer with the Marquette Area chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Mark Reynolds is the executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.