Posted on 21 November 2020 by John Hartz

Editor's Choice

The 'market' won't save us from climate disaster. We must rethink our system

Expecting the free market to fix global warming is like trying to pound nails with a saw

Nicholas Stern, the former chief economist of the World Bank, calls climate change the ‘greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen’. Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

The massive wildfires that have been rampaging across the American west this year are not purely natural disasters. They are partly products of the unnatural disaster of climate change – “unnatural”, in that the ultimate responsibility for global warming belongs not to physics but to our economic system. Nicholas Stern, the former chief economist of the World Bank, calls climate change the “greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen”. Sadly, climate change is only one – albeit a whopper – of the countless market failures that degrade our lives.

Though it sounds like a generic phrase, “market failure” is actually a technical term. It doesn’t refer to scams like insider trading or corporate fraud. A failure occurs when the marketplace allocates resources in a way that does not optimally deliver wellbeing. We understandably focus a lot of attention on the depredations of greedy tycoons and corporations, but many of the most consequential market failures stem from innate characteristics of our current market system.

Many of us probably already have a gut feeling that our current market system often fails. In order to build a more sustainable, just and prosperous economy, however, it’s vital that we better comprehend the shortcomings deep in the market’s DNA. Greater awareness would reduce blind faith in the market and enable people to see the market for what it is: a tool. It can be an excellent tool when used for the right job, but relying on the market to deal with something like climate change is like trying to pound nails with a saw.

Click here to access the entire Opinion Piece as originally published on The Guardian website.

Solar Panels + Agriculture: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Tina Casey, CleanTechnica, Nov 19, 2020

Articles Linked to on Facebook

Sun, Nov 15, 2020

• Seeing Clouds Clearly: Are They Cooling Us Down or Heating Us Up? by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Nov 10, 2020
• Can farming hemp help fight climate change?, CBS News, Nov 14, 2020
• Inside Clean Energy: Four Things Biden Can Do for Clean Energy Without Congress by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Nov 12, 2020
• Hurricane Iota rapidly intensifies ahead of expected landfall near Nicaragua-Honduras border by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 15, 2020
• 10 Ways The Biden Administration Can Restore U.S. Climate Leadership by Mindy Luber, Forbes, Nov 8, 2020

Mon, Nov 16, 2020

• Scientists link record-breaking hurricane season to climate crisis by Jeff Ernst, Environment, The Guardian, Nov 15, 2020
• CU Boulder researchers link prehistoric wildfires to climate change by Katie Langford, Boulder Daily Camera, Nov 14, 2020
• Hurricane Iota strengthens to Category 5 storm as it nears Central America landfall by Hollie Silverman, CNN, Nov 16, 2020
• Trump officials rush to auction off rights to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Biden can block it by Juliet Eilperin, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Nov 16, 2020
• Senate 2020: The Loeffler-Warnock Senate Runoff in Georgia Offers Extreme Contrasts on Climate by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Nov 14, 2020

Tue, Nov 17, 2020

• San Francisco Becomes the Latest City to Ban Natural Gas in New Buildings, Citing Climate Effects by Kristoffer Tigue, InsideClimate News, Nov 13, 2020
• Increase in burning of plastic 'driving up emissions from waste disposal' by Sandra Laville, Environment, The Guardian, Nov 16, 2020
• Hurricane Iota brings catastrophic winds and likely life-threatening flooding just miles from where Eta made landfall by Madeline Holcombe & Amir Vera, CNN, Nov 17, 2020
• The Earth itself could provide carbon-free heat for buildings by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 13, 2020
• 5 legal tactics environmentalists are using to fight climate change by Marin Kuebler, Environment, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 16, 2020

Wed, Nov 18, 2020

• With GOP Support, Arizona Mandates Cleaner Energy by Benjamin Storrow, E&E News/Scientific American, Nov 17, 2020
• Iota considered the strongest hurricane in history to hit Nicaragua, government says by Madeline Holcombe, Amir Vera & Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, Nov 17, 2020
• How shifting from meat-heavy to plant-based diets can help allay the climate crisis by Lili Pike, Vox, Nov 17, 2020
• Tropical Storm Iota deals devastation to Central America still recovering from Eta by Madeline Holcombe, Amir Vera, Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, Nov 18, 2020
• I Am Greta is an intimate, vulnerable documentary about the teen behind the headlines by Alissa Wilkinson, Culture, Vox, Nov 18. 2020

Thu, Nov 19, 2020

• Biden Plans to Move Fast With a ‘Climate Administration.’ Here’s How. by Coral Davenport & Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Nov 17, 2020
• A young Ugandan climate activist’s challenge to Joe Biden by Jariel Arvin, Vox, Nov 17, 2020
• Deaths, destruction reported in aftermath of Hurricane Iota by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 18, 2020
• Slew of rapidly intensifying Sathurricanes portends trouble in a warming world by Andrew Freedman, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Nov 18, 2020

Fri, Nov 20, 2020

• Dire outlook': scientists say Florida reefs have lost nearly 98% of coral by Hannah Chinn, Environment, The Guardian, Nov 18, 2020
• How to feed yourself and your family during a power outage by Daisy Simmons, Article, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 12, 2020
• The destructive 2020 Atlantic hurricane season may finally have had its last deadly storm by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 19, 2020
• Big electric trucks and buses are coming. Here’s how to speed up the transition. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 19, 2020

Sat, Nov 21, 2020

• The Energy 202: So, how much did climate change matter in the 2020 election?, Analysis by Dino Grandoni, PowerPost, Washington Post, Nov 18, 2020
• Natural disasters are increasing. The world’s poorest are left to fend for themselves. by Jariel Arvin, Vox, Nov 20, 2020
• The 'market' won't save us from climate disaster. We must rethink our system, Opinion by Robert S Devine, Comment is Free, The Guardian, Nov 19, 2020
• Solar Panels + Agriculture: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Tina Casey, CleanTechnica, Nov 19, 2020