[jahewson]

Does not work in a globalised world as the emissions just move to wherever they are not taxed. Now, you could then tax imports but that’s your own populous paying that tax - and you no longer have free trade. Your exports will be uncompetitive due to the tax you levied on their production and any still-polluting trading partners you slapped tariffs on will respond in kind. End result is wholesale destruction of large segments of the economy (reducing your tax receipts which were supposed to support people) and famine in the developing world.

[dee-bee]

I've seen the fuel or carbon tax pitched with a program where wealthy states directly subsidize the growth of non-carbon-emitting processes (or a low amortized rate, for instance for the concrete and mining and processing of nuclear fuel)—the non-wealthy states can continue to grow at a similar pace while not sacrificing leverage over the wealthy ones. There are many reasons this likely won't happen, but there certainly are solutions for those searching for them.