I still don't gethow taxing me on one hand but then giving back the money to compensate me for the tax take is going to do anything!The carbon tax is supposed to make you use less of the stuff which means the price needs to increase realtive to the means by which it is purchased. Ohterwise its just a Polish Blanket trick.

The point is to make fossil fuel derived energy more expensive (preferably more expensive than clean alternatives) and thus encourage you to substitute for alternatives or become more efficient in your energy use - not to make you poorer.

If your power bill goes up by 20%, and the source shifts to solar and wind to replace coal, but you are compensated with a 5% tax cut, you end up no better or worse off - but your carbon emissions (and vulnerability to fossil fuel depletion) goes away - thats why it's the right solution.