To the editor:

Energy markets do not account for the “external” or social costs of using fossil fuels. If I dump my garbage in your backyard, you’re right to insist that I pay for that privilege, assuming you are willing to let me do it at all. And if you do not insist, you can be pretty sure that I will keep on dumping my garbage there.

Carbon emissions must have an associated cost that reflects their toll on people and the environment. An emissions trading system (cap and trade) or a tax (carbon fee and dividend) has to be created, and that does not happen by the “invisible hand” of the marketplace. It happens through government action.

According to the Paris Climate Accord, we need large-scale renewable power, coupled with dramatic increases in energy efficiency, demand management and storage. A price on carbon will push demand in the right direction, but it needs to be reinforced by the pull of public investment in innovation.

Major technological developments are not produced by the private sector working alone. Edison and Westinghouse developed electricity, but the government built the delivery system. Same was true with the telephone system, the interstate highway system, nuclear power, the Internet, digital computers, satellite communications, weather forecasting and global positioning systems. They all took public and private effort sustained over decades. We need to stop demonizing government and recognize its crucial role in doing the most important thing that markets do not do: prioritizing and sustaining the common good.