We now have a new president and a new Congress, and our president has called on us all to work together and listen to each other in order to solve the great problems facing our country today. Most of us are sick of the bitterness and bickering within our country and within our Congress. 

We are all Americans and want better lives for our children, and we now have a chance for a reset and to begin to treat each other with respect.

So, how can this apply specifically to some of the great problems we are facing?  

How to solve the climate change problem is one specific area that offers us a real possibility of finding a bipartisan solution. We have previously looked at the mounting and overwhelming evidence that climate change poses severe and progressive dangers to our world. The big question now is what approach to solve this problem works best.

There are two solutions for climate change. One is government regulation, and the other is proper pricing of the production of greenhouse gases to account for their external damage and returning all the money to all U.S. citizens. 

Many economists agree that a carbon fee and dividend plan is the best policy. The primary reasons for this are that carbon fee and dividend is better for the economy, better for the poor, and will reduce emissions more quickly. Since it avoids government regulation, employs a free market approach, does not hurt the economy and may actually add jobs, it has conservative support, and since it is highly effective and decreases gas emissions by 90% by 2050, it has great environmental support.

Could this be the way to begin bipartisan work in our new Congress?  Let us hope so, and I personally pray that we can find a way to work together. If we are to remain a great nation, we must do so.

Vernon Dixon

Hiawassee