Taxes on pollution are by far the most direct and effective way to motivate the free market to work on the pollution problem. It shouldn't be a collection of ad-hoc taxes and subusidies; it should be a flat carbon tax equal to the global harm that the carbon does, coupled with a market in offsets.
Hoping the market will solve this problem without imposing reasons for it to do so is basically how we got here in the first place.
> Hoping the market will solve this problem without imposing reasons for it to do so is basically how we got here in the first place.
Humans inherently seek technological advancements. We have been extracting CO2 from the environment from our very beginnings. Cheap energy allows us to do more research and development to escape the carbon dependency. Fees could potentially incentivize the right person at the right time to develop an escape. Depending on that is as much a hope as I have for free market incentives. We're both hoping here.
Hoping the market will solve this problem without imposing reasons for it to do so is basically how we got here in the first place.