The Environmental Defense Fund helped reduce acid rain in the 1990s by using market forces, and last year it played a role in the buyout of Texas utility TXU that reduced the number of planned coal-fired power plants. The advocacy group's president, Fred Krupp, believes business-friendly approaches such as carbon cap-and-trade systems are the best way to fight global warning.

His new book, Earth: The Sequel, highlights the entrepreneurs, scientists, and even a former bus driver on the Trans-Alaska pipeline, who are betting on the free market to create new wealth and build a post-carbon economy.