Politicians across the political spectrum and across the globe are discovering how dumb it is to demand the average citizen pay a carbon tax.
Dumb because a carbon tax will not have a single impact on climate change, be it natural or man-made.
Dumb because it is widely unpopular due to its regressive nature, which punishes the non-wealthy to an excessively painful extent.
Plus, the average tax-paying citizen no longer believes the elites' hyperbole about climate change doomsday and global warming. The constant 'crying wolf' and then demanding more taxes in the next breath has proven time and again to be a politically losing proposition.
Even in the EU, the populace rejects having to pay higher taxes that will only enrich the establishment with more money and control. Noteworthy are the recent major protests in France regarding Macron's hydrocarbon tax. A levy that is boosting fuel costs for the masses, which has proven to be, not only wildly unpopular, but also deadly.
And in the U.S., politicians who push a carbon tax on the masses might as well not plan on getting elected the next time. A classic example is a GOP incumbent Latino in Florida who had all the right qualifications, except for his 2018 climate change tax stupidity - a political position of 'I am going to save the world and you will pay for it' that did not exactly resonate with voters.
When a politician chooses to advocate taxing his/her constituents more on a daily basis, one does not have to be a petroleum engineer to figure out that votes will not come gushing in for that politico.
Finally, if politicians were really serious about battling climate change with taxes, they would propose a climate change reparations surcharge tax on asset wealth. The 'asset wealthy' being not only individuals who own Teslas, but also foundations, endowments, religious institutions, and any other organization responsible for directly (or indirectly) using large amounts of fossil fuels.
A climate surcharge on the asset-rich, which would be unable to pass the surcharge taxes onto the masses via price increases. The asset-rich who will then deservedly become the elites' role models for saving the climate from their own doomsday scenarios.
Importantly, the mass of voters - conservative or progressive - would likely support that type of climate change tax in a heartbeat.