Market Failure: Global Warming and Peak Oil

Markets have never quantified and accounted for the greenhouse gas costs of burning fossil fuels. The costs of production and demand by users have always been the market variables setting the price of coal and oil. This historic inability to take into account the effects of greenhouse gas emissions is a stake in the heart of ideologues who would reduce government and other attempts at rational-comprehensive planning and depend entirely upon markets.

These same ideologues dismiss the threat of peak oil. They believe that we cannot consume our finite supply of oil – we will find more. Severe depletion will not occur without the development of sufficient alternative energy sources and therefor we needn’t worry about severe economic dislocation and possible societal collapse.
Hassan A. Elnajjar of Dalton, GA USA’s web site (not the real AlJazeerah)