The New York Times reports that more than two dozen of the nation’s biggest corporations, including five major oil companies – and two major utilities, American Electric Power and Duke Energy – are incorporating some form of carbon tax in their financial planning. “Both supporters and opponents of action to fight global warming say the development is significant because businesses that chart a financial course to make money in a carbon-constrained future could be more inclined to support policies that address climate change,” the Times reports. Maybe we are witnessing the beginning of the acceptance of science over politics, or at least the acceptance of reality over wishful thinking. Either way, the companies that plan for the future instead of fighting it are bound to have a market advantage. Years ago George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Today he might say companies that cannot foresee the inevitable are condemned to live in the past.
