The oil producers are actually calling for a carbon tax, and have been for a while. It's the american coal industry, and their influence on the rest of the fossil fuel industry that's holding it back.
Looks like the market cap for US traded coal companies is only $4 billion[1]. Maybe a US multi-billionare could buy them out as a philanthropic act and reduce mining to only that needed for chemical stock.
[1]http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/ind...