Letters to the editor: Polluters should pay for the consequences

Polluters should pay for the consequences This will be of interest not only to Colorado homeowners concerned about the risks of wildfires and flooding, but also to all taxpayers. Whether we realize it or not, we are all paying for the impacts of climate change. These costs are large and growing and have effectively become a tax on the public.

For example, the 2013 flooding event along the Front Range by itself caused severe damage to our roadway network and required more than $700 million in emergency repairs . Ongoing climate change will challenge our whole economy, including businesses, farmers, ranchers, and city and town budgets with lost income plus additional costs for repairs and mitigation. Right now , taxpayers are on the hook for 100% of the cost of climate damages.



Assistance could be available through a Colorado climate change cost recovery and adaptation fund as recently proposed by the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate . This is the PROTECT Act — Polluter Responsibility and Opportunity To Ensure Communities Thrive. Such legislation already is the law in New York State and in Vermont , and is being considered elsewhere.

Funding would come from fees assessed on the largest fossil fuel companies doing business in Colorado. It is based on the fairness principle: Those who pollute should help pay for the consequences, including infrastructure repair and improvements and compensation to Coloradans for climate damage. The text of the PROTECT Act is essentially already written .

Governor Polis and state legislators, please start to work on passing this. Chris Hoffman, Boulder.