Re “A pair of reports show utility bills will keep going up in San Diego — and across California” (Aug. 2): Thank you for covering the high and rising price of electricity. Electric rates stacked on top of high housing prices make San Diego a pricey place to live. One way to help families make ends meet is with a carbon fee and dividend, where fossil fuel companies pay a fee to extract polluting fuels and the funds are paid out as a carbon cashback to everyone. Over 3,500 economists signed on to the Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends — there’s strong, bipartisan support for this policy as a way to help households and phase out obsolete fossil-fuel technology. As citizens, we can push our legislators for action on climate policy. And in an election year, we can select leaders willing to take needed action.
— Stephen Tanner, Mira Mesa
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