I find, as usual, that Maximum Progress is offering a hubristic take.
Yes, plastics now are superior to ivory for any purpose aside from signalling wealth. But guess what, that last purpose is enough that ivory poaching remains a perpetual problem and elephants would probably have been wiped out by now if not for the dedicated efforts of governments and non-profits to combat poaching and to lock down the ivory trade.
Yes, solar power is getting very cheap, but it's a little early to declare the carbon emissions externality solved. Fossil fuel companies are still investing in infrastructure (pipelines, refineries, etc) with multi-decade payback times, so I expect we'll still have a long time yet to wait. And carbon emissions are a problem with a deadline.
Aquaculture is a growing source of fish, but overfishing remains a major unsolved problem, and there are also concerns about aquaculture itself having negative impacts on wild fish populations.
It's not either-or. Coordination provides the market incentives that encourage the adoption or development of the technologies; technological development reduces the cost of compliance.
Yes, plastics now are superior to ivory for any purpose aside from signalling wealth. But guess what, that last purpose is enough that ivory poaching remains a perpetual problem and elephants would probably have been wiped out by now if not for the dedicated efforts of governments and non-profits to combat poaching and to lock down the ivory trade.
Yes, solar power is getting very cheap, but it's a little early to declare the carbon emissions externality solved. Fossil fuel companies are still investing in infrastructure (pipelines, refineries, etc) with multi-decade payback times, so I expect we'll still have a long time yet to wait. And carbon emissions are a problem with a deadline.
Aquaculture is a growing source of fish, but overfishing remains a major unsolved problem, and there are also concerns about aquaculture itself having negative impacts on wild fish populations.