During the talk, titled “The Conservative Case for Carbon Tax,” Ettling drew on 25 years of experience as a park ranger at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon to discuss the increasingly severe effects of climate change on National Parks and to pitch a market-based solution.

Ettling argued that a tax on the fossil fuels that people burn is a solution that Republicans should endorse because it is fiscally neutral, does not grow government and would be easy to implement.

“Tax what you burn, not what you earn,” said Ettling.

Representatives from the non-profit organization Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a grassroots environmental group with which Ettling is actively involved, were also present at the lecture and distributed promotional material to student and faculty attendees.

The Truex event occurs annually at Jewell as a part of the “Perspectives on the Common Good” lecture series which is designed to explore the complexities of selfhood and challenge listeners to explore the complex dynamics of values in a pluralistic world. The forum is funded by Everett P. Truex (‘42). Previous speakers have included Thomas W. Laming and Robert M. Metcalfe.

Photo courtesy of CITI 10