Dan Galpernm, a climate activist, is riding his bike 4,700 miles across the country in support of a petition calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action against climate change.

While on his journey across the country, Galpern stopped by University of Colorado Boulder’s Wolf Law Building on Thursday, Sept. 23.

 “Climate change had hit home in a major way for me,” Galpern said, discussing the recent wildfires in his home state of Oregon. Seeing the destruction first hand raised Galperns urgency to take action, “… though I had been fighting against climate change for the last 15 years I decided I needed to step up and do more,”said Galpern.

Galpern is an environmental attorney and executive director of the Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative (CPR). CPR’s petition campaign is calling on the Biden administration to impose a revenue-neutral carbon fee.

 “We’re meeting today at an extraordinary moment,” Galpern said, discussing the reconciliation bill that’s currently making its way through congress. A carbon fee proposal is currently included in the bill but it’s not clear if it will make it into the final version, most of the climate policy in the reconciliation bill faces an uphill battle.

Some of the other climate policies included in the reconciliation bill proposal include the clean energy payment program which would pay utilities that increase their share of non-fossil fuel generation, clean energy tax incentives, tax incentives for electric vehicle purchases, tax rebates for retrofitting houses and apartments, fees on methane emissions, etc. 

One of Galpern’s main concerns is the influence fossil fuel companies have on our government through lobbying and the influence they have had on public perception of the climate crisis following decades of propaganda. 

“No serious carbon fee or other regulation has made it through congress … greenhouse gas emissions in the United States remain high,” Galpern said, voicing his frustration with congresses inaction over the years in the fight against climate change.

Galpern is hoping to put pressure on the Biden administration to take direct executive action.

 “Our fundamental inaction rests on a presumption that the President and the EPA don’t already have the authority to restrict greenhouse gas emissions … but that presumption is wrong,”said Galpern.

Galpern went on to explain that based on the 1952 Independent Offices Appropriations Act the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to impose user fees on polluters for releases of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses if it has the political will to do so.

Galpern added that he would rather see congress take more substantial action and pass a carbon fee bill into law instead of relying on the Independent Offices Appropriations Act so long as the bill isn’t “watered down” due to the influence of the fossil fuel industry.

After his presentation Galpern took questions from the audience, one person asked for clarification on what a “revenue-neutral” carbon fee is and how it would work. 

“Basically, It’s revenue neutral in the sense that the government is paying out dividends to citizens and funding the program with the money it is taking in, so it would be revenue-neutral,” Galpern explained. 

He also added that he would like to see the program functioning in a “progressive” way so that the dividends paid out primarily benefit middle and working class citizens.

In closing, Galpern again emphasized the importance of immediate executive action whether congress passes climate legislation or not. 

“Even in the absence of new congressional action the president can direct the EPA, under existing authority, to impose a rising fee on carbon pollution immediately,” said Galpern. “In our view there is no excuse for inaction. We must act now.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Road to the White House No Excuses Tour, CPR, climate policy, climate change, carbon fees, or signing the CPR petition you can visit https://cprclimate.org/.