A carbon tax to constrain the advance of ISIS? Is Thomas Friedman serious?
Was he EVER a serious scholar of ANYTHING?
Think how well a “carbon tax” would have worked in defeating Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, or Admiral Hideki Tojo in WW II.
And we are facing an enemy on a much broader front today.
Are you series? I think most historians agree that the main reason Tojo attacked the US was in response to the extremely successful American oil embargo. They needed oil from the Dutch East Indies and Malaya to support their war efforts, and needed the US Navy out of the picture to conquer them.
As for Hitler, his dependence on oil and the extreme vulnerability of his oil supplies directed and limited Nazi war policy on both fronts and throughout the war. Both the Nazis and the Japanese spent vast amounts on research and production of alternative fuels as the Allies severely limited their access to fuel. More than any other factor, the Allied dominance of the oil industry led to the destruction of the Axis.