Posted
November 25, 2008

The Commons Can Help Stop the Climate Crisis

Cap-and-Dividend, the commons-based solution to global warming, came in for more media attention recently, in Forbes magazine.

Environmental author and philosopher Bill McKibben interviewed On the Commons cofounder Peter Barnes, who conceived the idea. Cap-and-Dividend is a policy being considered by the Obama administration. It involves charging companies that emit carbon into the atmosphere above a certain limit (the cap) and then returning the money raised by this process to citizens (the dividend).

McKibben voiced his own support for the idea. “I bought in early—it makes it easier to talk about global warming, because it comes with a check. Made out to you.”