The Carbon Tax is not some socialist conspiracy to redistribute wealth, it is designed to discourage use of carbon-intensive energy sources.
Rather than legislating to slow carbon usage, increasing the price will discourage it less directly and encourage the development of alternatives.
This is similar to the tax on tobacco a couple of decades ago, which was a very successful public policy and saved a generation of people from smoking-related diseases.
This is the sort of policy commonly suggested in economics and public finance text books and is a responsible path for the government to take.
The science behind global warming and climate change has been proven and tested for twenty years. The government is showing good leadership by taking this move to do something about it.