carbon tax - unintended consequences, page-18

jantimot, your logic is sound. Kill off half the population by heat stroke and there won't be anywhere near the demand for energy, so the overall carbon emissions will reduce.

From an equity point of view, I'm not sure I'd go along with the idea. In any case, the per capita energy use might actually increase.

Probably better to just make the polluters pay and encourage them to shift to cleaner energy that's cheaper in the medium term if not already cheaper, as well as raising funds to use as incentives for developing clean energy, as well as compensating those who are stuck with the existing energy sources but don't cause the pollution themselves. A bit less painful that way and more fair.