It's a depressing picture.
Carbon taxes fall on the tax payers, often freezing people who cant afford it. I wonder what the sham behind that is, the real reason why. Canucks last PM, Harper, rejected Kyoto, I recall thinking at the time he was an ass but now realize it was a wise move. He didnt have other great environmental policies, but environmental activism has it's own share of dogma.much of which I fell for cuz as you said there are so few solutions --makes any seem good.
There are some innovators making good use of excess plastics, and the investment in solar and electric is promising.
the movie 'Cowspiracy' was important; shows what ppl are/aren't willing to give up. as so many enviro NGOs were bought up by factory farm agribusinesses, with the fatalistic attitude that ppl wont give up meat (esp. the convenience and low cost) anyway.
There is loophole in the Kyoto treaty that actually rewards you for having more CO2 emissions.
Humans do not have a good reputation with picking up after themselves but we do have a good track record turning our problems into opportunities.