Decades ago, climate scientists warned that the continued release of CO2 would have catastrophic consequences for the planet, and since then, little or nothing has been done. Today we are witnessing these consequences in ever-increasing storms, droughts, floods, fires, global social unrest, and mass migrations. Why was nothing done to arrest this catastrophe?

With a historical and concise perspective, Christopher Anderson explains how an economic principle based on private profits brought us to where we are today (on the brink of ecological disaster) and what we must do about it.

Christopher Anderson is the author of "What Happened to the Love Generation? How the Boomers Blew It," and the novels "Alki", "The Revolutionists", and "Love and Infatuation: Three Novellas."

He lives in a small hamlet in Arizona with his wife and two dogs.