I think a carbon tax is a good idea, as I said, so long as we realize its limitations. I think it should be increased on a regular schedule, perhaps we start at $10 per ton and increase that every other year by $10 for a decade. Then the monies would go into a trust fund of some sort designated perhaps for infrastructure improvements, or perhaps to reduce the FICA tax, or perhaps to simply get the SSTF funded, maybe all three.
If nuclear power were a realistic option, we could I think in 15 years replace every coal plant with nuclear, they produce the same sort of electricity. Natural gas would be used for peaker plants, maybe batteries come on faster than expected. Maybe we should subsidize EVs, I'd put a limit of ~$40 K per vehicle on any tax credit, meaning the expensive ones wouldn't get a dime. Whoever can build a decent $35 K EV would get maybe $5 K.
We could do this, it wouldn't be terribly painful, it would have SOME impact on CO2 levels, just a very small one.