Global Warming: Markets and Democracy

The danger of global warming was recognized in the 1960s, and by the 1980s its effects were already becoming apparent. Yet significant action to limit it has only just begun. Meanwhile, the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere continues to grow. Why? According to Adam Smith's analysis of the market -- echoed by today's neo-liberals -- each player, by pursuing their own immediate self-interest, brings about the common interest of all. According to Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank and author of the British government's "Stern Review" on global warming, "Climate change is the greatest market failure the world has ever seen." As corporations and individuals have pursued their own immediate self-interest, they have brought about a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. Nor is this just a question of economic ideology. Exxon and other energy companies spent millions of dollars promoting "environmental holocaust denial" not out of its economic principles but because it feared measures to limit the use of fossil fuels might cost it hundreds of billions of...
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