Economy Mixing with Environment, a Question of Compatability

Just recently, we discussed in class the possibility that Capitalism, the economic system under which America has thrived off of over the short time we have existed, may be failing. It seems to be a trending topic, because of the fact that I stumbled upon someone who was asking a very similar question, whether or not capitalism could accommodate environmental sustainability? I unearthed this question on the global forum site YahooAnswers, and the responses vary from stalwart "no's" to hopeful "yes's", and everything in between.

In my personal opinion, I believe that if capitalism were tweaked just a bit, the possibility of a capitalist system coexisting with an environmentally sustainable system is highly likely. One way we could tweak the system is by offering incentives in order to drive sustainability rates up. This has already been tested through the 'Cap and Trade' process that corporate companies practiced just recently. It allowed for the companies to be slightly more sustainable, while still benefiting from the capitalist system. While support for this program has been on and off, leading to it currently being under suspension, I believe that this is the right direction that should be taken to make a capitalist system compatible with environmental sustainability.