People miss the big picture. By increasing tax on carbon you are not discouraging consumption in the long term. Only scarcity, no use mandates (or a cheaper alternative) would decreases consumption of something as necessary as energy is to people. After a period, since energy needs do not go away, the cost is absorbed into the Economy. Inflation works similarly. Wages have to increase if the costs of goods rise or people fall behind. After a while the people push back (Labor Unions, Revolution, new Elections, etc.) til the Standard of living is not falling. This can easily be seen with Inflation, a US Dollar is worth considerably less than it was in 1929. Yet people make considerably more dollars these days.

Any form of Tax eventually just gets added into the cost of living and people continue like they have before. With a rising population there will be a rising need for fossil fuel. Too bad some folks are unable to understand the simple facts. It is like the myth of Conservation. It looks good individually but in practice it fails to see the whole picture. You just can not escape Economics and human behavior.

I see the Carbon tax as not only misguided but simply a grab for power from those that live in a Leftist Fantasy where Central Government solves all the Worlds ills. Too bad it is Fairy dust and unicorn dreams.

Back years ago there was a push to have simplified tax filing. It lasted for only a short time for reasons that never were explained. I used HRB filing software and instead of printing out all the form data you could chose to print out only the amounts on a one page return, sign and mail. It was much easier than what was to come of printing out reams worth of paper ( I had a small business then). Initially the 1040EZ back then was in truth "Easy" and the 1040A was fairly straight forward. Not anymore.

  Every year there is talk about making filing better and every year it gets more complicated. It should be able to simply be done without having to pay a preparer for the majority of people.

The average desktop user of a decade ago would be amazed how easy and simple modern Linux distros are to learn and use. It is just that the average intelligence keeps dropping. So it is a moving target of how stupid do you need to make it. Judging from MS Windows latest TV commercials, the target demographic is in the My Little Pony intelligence level. (Though Apples dancing people add harks back to early primitive fertility rituals neatly saved for posterity by ipods video capability.

A thought on wherein batteries would be feasible to be charged via Wind power. Car Battery packs. Bring them in on Train and charge up spare packs. Then, on the out going freight, they return these to urban areas to be used in Electrical Service stations. If a Standard quick disconnect pack for cars could be made to fit between the wheels on the underside of the car, it would be relatively trivial to set up a change out Station. Drive into the Station like a car wash. A powered belt pulls the car in. Hydraulic lift lowers the old pack. Car continues to the point where a new one is lifted in place. Driver exits Station.