4 ms·

Stock markets haven't priced it in simply because people don't want to pay. Most nations that produce a lot of carbon waste would rather pay 0 for it and the l

by nisten 6y ago

Stock markets haven't priced it in simply because people don't want to pay. Most nations that produce a lot of carbon waste would rather pay 0 for it and the lobbying is very strong to maintain the price of 0. If you start treating emissions the same way that you treat, say... dumping garbage, by assigning it a starting price, any price, 0.1 cents per ton, then and only then you enable the free market to process waste automatically. We already have a great system for this, it's very logical and market friendly, there's just no political will to actually implement it. It's called cap and trade. The problem is psychological, not technological. If all businesses have to trade pollution then obviously they will figure out how to measure it much more and more accurately. And engineers that work on emission-free solutions will work a lot faster if the market's paying them for each ton of waste they save. As for which solution will work best it is very hard to predict what the market will come up with, could be algae, chemical capture, genetically modified trees planted en masse, printed solar, miniature reactors or something else entirely. It doesn't even matter frankly, just give it a price and the hivemind of the market will automatically figure out the most competitive way to solve the problem.

sudhirj 6y ago
The political will for prevention is missing, but the will (and money) for the cure will come quickly. Wall Street will pay once the wet elevators stop working, Presidents, Prime Ministers and politicians will find the will once they spend a summer with heat exhaustion at their vacation homes. We're seeing a lot more acceptance now that the sky is gray with ash. Fixing the problem is not up for debate, but that will be so only after the problem clearly presents itself, not a minute before. This is same principle as a concrete manufacturer's stock going up after a tsunami – we will need to fix the problem, even if we're too lazy or short-sighted to prevent it.

by nisten 6y ago

sudhirj 6y ago

The political will for prevention is missing, but the will (and money) for the cure will come quickly. Wall Street will pay once the wet elevators stop working, Presidents, Prime Ministers and politicians will find the will once they spend a summer with heat exhaustion at their vacation homes. We're seeing a lot more acceptance now that the sky is gray with ash. Fixing the problem is not up for debate, but that will be so only after the problem clearly presents itself, not a minute before. This is same principle as a concrete manufacturer's stock going up after a tsunami – we will need to fix the problem, even if we're too lazy or short-sighted to prevent it.