Financial forces too fickle to take heat out of global warming

To defer to markets to overcome the environmental woes of capitalism is a blueprint for disappointment and a recipe for planetary suicide, writes Ivan Ascher.

With global temperatures rising at an alarming rate, the race is on to lower the world’s consumption of fossil fuels and accelerate the adoption of greener forms of energy.

Among the most discussed remedies are those that would use market forces to make traditional fuels more expensive; ideas include putting a price on carbon and protecting natural resources that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.