The British Government is being urged to abolish a $20bn-a-year “hidden subsidy” to the airline industry, which is due to the fact airlines do not pay fuel duty or VAT on the fuel for its planes. “This is a massive public subsidy for an industry that is one of the fastest-growing contributors to climate change,” … Read More
Green taxation
“The Great Green Betrayal”
Environmental groups are accusing UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown of the “Great Green Betrayal”. They are arguing that his government’s green policies are standing still or even going backwards. First, environmental taxation, which could help curb greenhouse gas emissions and much other pollution, is actually falling rather than rising – and falling substantially, a powerful … Read More
Tories Back Taxes on Flights
The leader of the UK Conservatives, David Cameron is set propose a number of green taxes, including the imposition of VAT on aviation fuel on domestic flights and a new airline passenger tax linked to the carbon efficiency of the flight. The Conservative party’s quality of life report, chaired by ex-Minister John Gummer, and Zac … Read More
Stern Quits Treasury After Brown Freezes Him Out
Feeble Gordon, as he is now known, has fumbled again. UK Chancellor Gorodon Brown not only missed a trick by not acting on the most authoritative report on the economic impacts of climate change in his pre-budget report, but now he has lost the author of the report itself. With embarrassing timing, Sir Nicholas Stern’s … Read More
“Feeble” Brown Fails Green Test
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown came under strong attack from political opposition parties and green groups after responding to the government’s own dire warnings on climate change with a modest ÂŁ1bn package of green taxes in his pre-budget report. Little more than a month after the prime minister described the report into climate change by the … Read More
Lib Dems Launch Green Tax Offensive
The World Bank may be meeting in Singapore, but in the UK the political party season has begun. First up it’s the Liberal Democrats. The environment and climate change will feature heavily like never before with the Tories and Lib Dems both trying to attract the green vote.