Let’s start with the ‘green’ tax on airline tickets. This looks contradictory in the context of wanting another runway at Heathrow, and other airports’ expansion. The government say airlines pump out CO2 and they are correct. The say they want to reduce this so they will make flights more expensive by taxing them. So surely they must expect less people to fly, needing less planes in the air? Wrong. If they expected airport traffic to reduce, they wouldn’t be expanding airports. What they’re doing is adding a tax and colouring it green to avert criticism.

They use the same trick on car fuel. Over the last few years tax on fuel for cars has been hiked a number of time under the Green banner. The theory is, raise the price so people will use less fuel and therefore pump out less CO2, with the Treasury conveniently pocketing the extra revenue. Has the plan worked? Well yes, if tax income is the main objective but not if reduction in car fuel is required. And in the last budget by simply postponing the latest rise on fuel, they say they are trying to help the motorist!

How to actually lower CO2
Use carrot & stick to push companies to promote home-working. With broadband technology, it has been possible for many years to connect with the office networks from home. Communicating using the telephone, IM, and video conferencing, it is possible to almost be in the office whilst being at home. If half of the all office staff worked from home, the reduction in car-train journeys would be fantastic, maybe by as much as 30%. And what kind of impact would this have :
• The roads would free up.
• Trains and bus usage would be much less at peak times, but less affected at non-peak times. This would make it easier and cheaper to maintain public transport infrastructure.
• The wretched lives of many commuters would be transformed –giving them much more leisured time, and making them more effective during work times. Those commuters who couldn’t work from home would also benefit from less traffic, less parking problems.
• Children coming back from school would benefit from knowing their parents were nearby –in their home office.
• There would be massive reduction in CO2 and other pollutants.

Keeping cars longer
Although older cars tend to be less clean in terms of pollution, but the act of manufacturing a car and scrapping it add massively to energy consumption- and therefore CO2 emissions. If the government is serious about CO2 reduction, they would persuade people to keep cars longer. Older cars should be subsidised rather than taxed, (scrap road tax on older cars, scrap duty and VAT on car parts, car consumables, garage labour, and make MOT’s free). But of course car manufacturers wouldn’t want any reduction in new cars sales, so no chance for this policy

Summary
If the government seriously wanted to reduce pollutants, including CO2, there are more imaginative ways to do so. However there would be powerful establishment groups losing out financially (especially if persuading people to keep their cars for longer). And they would be ready for a fight which our government won’t do. No, they don’t want to change anything, just tinker at the edges.

All they really want is to raise extra revenue without changing habits to avoid a fight with the Establishment. If it is easier to raise taxes wearing a green cloak, that’s the way to do it.

Return to Amistad Home.

Return to Amistad Home.

This article is sponsored by Proqul Ozone store who supply the Ozonology Sanitisation service.

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