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From left, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and California Gov. Jerry Brown listen to a speaker before signing an agreement to collectively combat climate change on Monday, Oct. 28.

(The Associated Press)

By Rebecca Dell, Jarrod Russell and Tristan Carland

Oregon has an opportunity right now to help tackle climate change and reverse the momentum of ever-greater carbon pollution and ever-riskier climate change impacts. Last month, Gov. Kitzhaber committed Oregon to the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, a partnership to put a price on carbon and to promote shared climate policies with California, Washington, and British Columbia.

For more than 10 years, the international community has pursued aggressive, binding, global agreements to reduce emissions of climate pollution, mostly carbon dioxide. It has repeatedly failed. At the same time, scientists issue increasingly dire forecasts of future climate change if those emissions are not reduced.

What we really need is to get the fundamentals right: stop trying to hit home runs and get some runners on base. We can implement realistic and effective policies at the state and regional level, without involving Washington, DC, adding a lot of onerous regulation, or expanding the size of government.

Our West Coast partners, California and British Columbia, have already started to tackle climate pollution. California's cap-and-trade system is performing well. The state auctions off permits to emit carbon, and companies can reduce their emissions, buy permits to emit from the state, or buy permits from another company in an open market. Extra permits can be sold on the same market. So far, all of the available carbon permits have sold out, showing that confidence in the market is growing. The state is on track to reduce its greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

British Columbia uses a revenue-neutral carbon tax, charging a simulated flat rate for every ton of carbon emitted by various fuels when purchased or used. It was introduced in 2008 at $10 per ton of CO 2 , rose to a final $30 in 2012; about $0.25 per gallon of gas. In the tax's first four years, British Columbia's economy outperformed the rest of Canada while reducing its fuel consumption by 19 percent relative to the rest of Canada. The revenue from the tax has been used to reduce British Columbia's income tax to the lowest in Canada.

A revenue-neutral price on climate pollution could work for Oregon as well, and the new Pacific Coast Action Plan makes the time ripe. The price for carbon emissions could be charged at the source, either when the fossil fuels come out of the ground or when they enter Oregon, minimizing new regulations and economic complexities. All the money levied should be returned directly to the people of Oregon through a regular dividend check or tax break. If you lived a low-carbon life, you would get more back from the dividend than you ever paid in increased prices due to the emissions fees. This could both reduce carbon emissions and reduce the risk of dangerous climate changes like sea-level rise, heat waves, droughts, and ocean acidification.

Oregon can maintain its vibrant, innovative economy while showing the country and the world how to make progress on climate change. We can work together for a stable climate and an energy-secure economy, so let's join our neighbors and start here.

Rebecca Dell, a climate scientist, is a research fellow at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Jarrod Russell is a consultant specializing in sustainable development; and Tristan Carland, a biologist, is research fellow at The Scripps Research Institute.