Wayne,

One reason that we don't have this going on in the US is that Trump, smartly withdrew the US from the fraudulent climate accord and we are not facing carbon taxes on our fuel.

There are numerous things going on here with the yellow vests but this is the issue that triggered the riots and is being completely ignored/under reported by the mainstream media because they don't want us to know the truth about the exaggerated man made climate change and what needs to be done in order to impose the climate change agenda plan.

Green Taxes and Yellow Vests: Global Awakening amid Climate Fearmongering

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/11/green-taxes-and-yellow-vests-global-awakening-amid-climate-fearmongering/

"France is not the only country to introduce taxes on fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Germany, Canada, and others have their own versions. To make matters worse, the Paris climate agreement threatens to prevent developing countries from using fossil fuels to lift themselves out of poverty. Are such actions justified in the name of the war against climate change?

Up to 30 years ago, no one would have predicted that developed countries would impose taxes on fossil fuel use, the source of energy that made them prosperous.

Now, taxes on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels have not only become reality but also inspired widespread outrage from citizens. The Yellow Vest protests have spread to neighboring countries, echoing consumers’ unwillingness to pay exorbitant energy taxes to fight climate change."

To win the climate change battle, we need to talk about gilets jaunes

Shifting to a low-carbon economy won't be painless, and politicians need to win the public over

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/to-win-the-climate-change-battle-we-need-to-talk-about-the-gilets-jaunes

But there are 2 sides to the issue and some on the other side(that believe what the broken global climate models are predicting in the future), are suing France for giving in to one of the peoples demands..... about the fuel tax:

1.7 million people have signed a petition in favor of suing France over climate-change inaction

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/27/furious-greenpeace-oxfam-suing-the-french-government-over-macrons-carbon-tax-retreat/

"Carbon tax advocates seem to assume fossil fuel demand is elastic – higher taxes reduce demand, by encouraging people to choose less carbon intensive alternatives to personal road transport. But many of the yellow vest protestors are farmers and rural workers, they live in regions with poor public transport. Many of them have to transport large payloads of rural supplies to or from their farms.

The livelihoods of rural yellow vest protestors are utterly dependent on their inelastic access to affordable diesel. Our access to affordable food is utterly dependent on keeping costs down for rural workers."

You already have my opinion on the science of man made climate change but since this is a new point on the topic, here it is again:

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/18326/

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/14777/

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/10741/

What would a carbon tax in the US do to the economy?

You can find many sources(majority) that claim little to no harm. They appear to be very biased. Most sources also disagree with my position on climate change. Since I'm an atmospheric scientist, I can provide the authentic data to prove my science and disprove theirs. 

On the economy, I'm not expert but here's my biased to one side source. This study was done in 2014.

https://www.heritage.org/testimony/impacts-carbon-taxes-the-us-economy

Impacts of Carbon Taxes on the US Economy

The impacts would have included (dollar values are adjusted for inflation):

• GDP loss of $146 billion in 2030
• A family of four losing more than $1,000 of income per year,
• Over 400,000 lost jobs by 2016,
• Coal production dropping by 60 percent and coal employment dropping by more than 40 percent by 2030,
• Gasoline prices rising $0.20 by 2016 and $0.30 before 2030, and
• Electricity prices rising 20 percent by 2017 and more than 30 percent by 2030.

How can a group of people, many of them probably not a citizen of France, but a member, one would assume of Green peace have any legal ability to sue the gov't of France

Can't France make it's own laws??

The large numbers of people signing the petition mean diddly

If Trudeau or Trump signed a law, do I get to sue the Canadian or USA gov't??

Is that how that reads??

I just skimmed really fast so I may be mistaken

It's just a ludicrous publicity stunt that can't have any legal teeth, especially  because their science is completely wrong.

https://qz.com/1507841/petition-to-sue-france-over-climate-change-is-signed-by-1-7-million/

1.7 million people have signed a petition in favor of suing France over climate-change inaction

By Annabelle Timsit in ParisDecember 26, 2018

An environmental crisis in France

This has been the hottest year on record (link in French) in France’s history. And according to recent studies, pollution kills as many as 48,000 people every year (link in French).

Fact is the last 40 years has featured the best weather and climate for life and crop growing in the last 40 years.

CO2 is a beneficial gas.

Not one creature on this planet has ever been harmed from breathing ambient levels of CO2. Not one. Is pollution killing alot of people? Sure but its not from CO2 or climate change, which has benefited life and saved lives.