"Now, having said all that, I don't believe it's the government's job to regulate my energy consumption."
Why not, it should be. Being that the consequence of you using more energy has an effect on everyone, be it through pilloution, or a tighter supply of energy, not just you wallet. That is unless you are creating your own energy But even then, the materials to build your energy system, steel, wood, resins, and copper all have a large impact on the enviroment. Kind of like the addage that 80% of the emmissions related to autos, are involved in the manufacturing process.
By taxing incadesent light bulbs, suv's, and other pillouters, you are finially attaching an economic price to the enviromental damage that you are creating.
Wasting energy is not a right, and should be punishable.