THE FRENCH NEVER GOT THE LIBERTY PART OF THE EQUATION:

France rejects carbon tax in blow to Sarkozy (Peter Allen, 31 Dec 2009, Daily Telegraph)

An historic attempt to introduce a carbon tax strongly backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy was rejected by the French constitutional court on Wednesday.

The flagship scheme was meant to place Mr Sarkozy at the head of the worldwide green revolution, making it a pioneer in the fight against climate change.

But the council ruled that there were too many exemptions for polluters in the tax plan.