What is the pricetag on our atmosphere?

Since I am still on holidays, I will forego my usual wordiness, and respond to news from back home in Australia that I’d just read, with this:

Today in the news, the mad monk cries
There’s no need for a carbon price
Taxes are bad for the Average Joe
I’ll scrap mining tax if you’ll give me a go
No need for mandates, let the market decide
Government intervention need not be applied
The ETS seams the eco-logy-nomy rift with skill
Let’s trade licenses to emit, pollute and kill!
Watch the masses as they get up in arms
A key word like “taxes” raises the alarms
On forum pages, it’s comments galore
Yet come elections, silent is the esprit de corps
Small wonder when one pauses to reflect
You can’t simply buy absolution with greenbacks
When a price tag is slapped on the air we breathe
The dollar symbol thus becomes a sheath
For the real issue at hand; we’re on a runaway train
Where, if we just cooperate, we’d all stand to gain
So stop the mudslinging and cease the tirade
These pledges and claims are but a weak masquerade

(Image credit: 1.)