>But even without that, the cost of green energy is going down every year. The moment—which might be forthcoming in a few years—when owning a fossil fuel vehicle becomes an exorbitant deal, people will switch in droves.

This is one case where the market based approach simply cannot deliver. The objectives of continued growth and reduced emissions cannot be reconciled. Energy consumption is directly tied to global consumption and hence growth. [1]

The fallacy that increasing energy efficiency will somehow allow us to mitigate climate change whilst maintaining the growth rates we're accustomed to has no empirical or theoretical basis. Classical economics failed to recognise that energy is a factor of production akin to labour and land. Once we account for this growth becomes endogenous and there is no longer any reason to assume that perpetual growth is sustainable. [2] As long as economic growth remains the primary goal any efficiency gains (manifesting as lower energy prices) will simply be cannibalised through increased consumption. [3]

Simply put, we are past the point where 'sustainable growth' is a possibility; as long as growth remains paramount and economic incentives do not change then the choice between growth and sustainability has already been made. The cake is disappearing slice by slice.

[1] http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2012/01/wealth-and-energy-...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_returned_on_energy_inve...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox