No quicker way to ensure defeat than to embrace this.
Carbon tax or BTU tax - dead on arrival.
These are taxes on consumption, pure and simple. And their application is not equitable in any way, shape, manner or form. The fact is, like a VAT, they would be hidden from the view of the consumer, and reflected negatively in terms of economic growth and economic stability.
A consumption tax, applied only at the point of the end user, would be both transparent, and under sharp scrutiny by those who are subject to the tax. If such a tax were applied in lieu of ANY income or property taxes, a lot of economic decisions would look quite different. The manner of enforcement would also be quite different.