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On the other hand, one understanding of the role of government in market capitalist societies would be contract enforcement and ensuring the pricing of external

• semi-extrinsic 8y ago
  Carbon taxes, as well as pricing of externalities, are both means by which a government would force corporations to pay. We have knowledge that it should be done, but yet we are not doing it, as this knowledge is drawn into question by charletans and pharisees who twist and turn scientific cautiousness into doubts and buts and ifs in servitude of the almighty dollar. This is the nature of market capitalist societies: those who own capital seek to protect their income, and won't let minor inconveniences like future environmental crisis stand in their way. Just look at the European carbon tax (ETS); it would have been effective if reasonably priced (50-100 EUR/tonne range), but industry successfully worked to keep the price per tonne at between 1/5th and 1/20th of what would have spurred actual emissions reduction measures, thus it has been toothless. Greenwashing is most all what remains.