The missing thing: international incentive structures. Today, most things are done the most economical way. And that might involve emitting carbon. A country which regulates the emissions of carbon will end up producing goods and services using carbon free methods - but those methods will often be less economically efficient than the carbon producing method, even at scale. So any country that goes all in on the carbo…
YC can’t solve that. I agree it’s an important cause, but it’s really hard coordination problem. If we can make progress without, just by using tech to lower emissions, that’s a clear win.
Having said that, a CO2 tax just makes the financial incentives for change better; someone still needs to build the better system after funds are reallocated. So if you already started a cost-reduction startup, you’ll have first-mover advantage when the CO2 taxes come into play.