When capitalism makes a mess such as is occurring today with respect to humanity's greenhouse gas emissions, there are some who will proclaim, “You see? Capitalism is no good. It's making a mess again. It's killing the coral reef systems and disrupting climate.”
My rebuttal to that is capitalism makes a mess when costs get swept under the rug. Costs swept under the rug are out of sight and out of mind momentarily but eventually show up as destroyed property and lost lives, as per the great wildfire season of 2018, soon to be eclipsed by worse ones, demonstrating once again that capitalism is only as sound as its accountants are honest and competent.
Not to destroy capitalism but to preserve it, we need a way to price carbon emissions. Fortunately, this is a view that is finding support within our state Legislature. Reps. Joel Briscoe (D-Salt Lake City), Becky Edwards (R-North Salt Lake) and Dixon Pitcher (R-Ogden) have sponsored a carbon tax bill, HB403, which, with your support, has a good chance of getting passed in the 2019 legislative session (with a different House bill number designation). Good people are getting good things done.
Charles Ashurst, Logan
