Given enough time and political will, it would in theory be possible to develop a carbon cap-and-trade market that delivered specified emission reductions "on time and under budget." In practice, more than a decade of trying hasn't gotten the EU — or any other large political entity — there yet, and time is running out. Carbon pricing is needed now, not at some point in the future. It's probably needed to speed the transition to carbon-free power generation. It's certainly needed if gas is to beat coal as the favored fossil fuel of the transition years, while renewable generation and storage are built up (WGI Oct.25'17).
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