That's not what they said at all. That's not even an uncharitable read of it. Indignant, impotent anger does in no way change the fact that costs are a deterrant, even to those who can pass the costs along, and that making certain business choices more expensive than others disincentivises those choices.

The simple fact is, we pay for the sins of those who come before us. We pay for the sins of those who voted for lax governance of business, reduction of environmental protections, the breakdown of antitrust protections, and the weakening of labour laws.

We pay figuratively, and we pay literally.

You're so close. So very close.

If company A uses gas, they have to pay a little more carbon tax, and that extra costs end up in the final product.

But lucky for you! Company B also exists, they crunched the numbers and found that over the life of their vehicle it is actually cheaper to use EVs, in their case their end product is a little cheaper than what Company A could provide.

Then you go to the store and you see option A and B, you see B is cheaper and you buy it.

The carbon pricing model has now worked exactly as economists have been saying for decades.