Yet, there is an alternative rising, one that has long been supported by James Hansen of NASA and is getting a bit of life breathed into it by Bill McKibben of 350.org. Very basically, tax-and-dividend works like this: a slowly rising tax is leveled on all emissions, and 100% of the proceeds are then divided evenly among all Americans at tax time. This way while some may see the cost of energy rise, most will make the difference back through the dividend. Only people who have very large carbon footprints will see a net loss. This gives people a very personal investment in their own carbon footprint because the lower your emissions, the more money you will earn off of our decarbonizing of the economy. Meanwhile, it will give the business sector an enormous incentive to transition away from burning coal, oil, and gas. The price signal will be clear, innovation will be spurred, and so on.