Duke Energy, a leading U.S. electricity and gas utility, announced this week its support for a global warming tax (search) — essentially a consumption tax on consumers of gasoline, oil, natural gas and coal. The tax is intended to reduce energy use and resulting emissions of greenhouse gases.[snip]Fortunately for now, however, the politics of global warming — established by President Bush, who pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 — make it unlikely that we will be saddled either by an economy-hurting carbon tax or the dubious trading of hot air. [snip]In mid-March, six energy companies —...