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No. Capitalism is not capable of addressing the climate and ecological crisis.
by realreality 5y ago
No. Capitalism is not capable of addressing the climate and ecological crisis.
- asteroidbelt 5y agoI explained how it will work. Care you explain where I'm wrong or present any arguments to substantiate your point of view? Otherwise you comment is equivalent to just "I disagree", which contributes zero to the discussion.
- realreality 5y agoA carbon tax might've worked if implemented a couple of decades ago, when it could be gradually increased over time, and giving industries time to adapt. It is meant to be a gentle way for the government to change behavior. But the scale of emissions reductions required now -- at least 10% per year [1] -- would mean that the price of carbon would have to immediately be cripplingly high. Obviously, that's bad for anyone who isn't rich. And there's no appetite for high taxes. The point being, if the government is going to intervene to the degree that the climate crisis requires, then the government might as well directly shut down industries and institute regulations on behavior, instead of indirectly through carbon taxes. As we've been reminded of recently, the wealthy always find loopholes around paying their fair share of taxes. [1] https://www.showyourbudgets.org/?country=united_states_of_america https://www.showyourbudgets.org/?country=united_states_of_am... And even this budget is likely conservative, as committed warming is a topic of debate.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoIf governments forced power producers to factor in externalities like cost of global warming and pollution actually they could and probably better than some leftists who think governments should come in and jackboot the populace into compliance.