Petrol prices versus the environment

Former_MSE_Andrea

Poll Started 9 May 2006. The Global environment is rapidly deteriorating and our car use is one of the primary causes. Yet petrol prices are now hitting £1/litre, a cost many found hideous. Petrol taxes (duty plus VAT) are around 60p/litre. What would you do? (PS. See Petrol/Diesel Cost Cutting Article for how to save)

A. Cut all tax
B. Cut it by 50p
C. Cut it by 40p
D. Cut it by 30p
E. Cut it by 20p.
F. Cut it by 10p.
G. No change
H. Increase it by 10p
I. Increase it by 20p
J. Increase it by 30p
K. Increase it by 40p
L. Increase it by 50p
M. Double it
N. Treble it

Former_MSE_Andrea

Poll Started 9 May 2006. The Global environment is rapidly deteriorating and transport is one of the primary causes. Yet petrol prices are now hitting £1/litre, a cost many found hideous. Petrol taxes (duty plus VAT) are around 60p/litre. What would you do? (PS. See Petrol/Diesel Cost Cutting Article for how to save)

A. Cut all tax
B. Cut it by 50p
C. Cut it by 40p
D. Cut it by 30p
E. Cut it by 20p.
F. Cut it by 10p.
G. No change
H. Increase it by 10p
I. Increase it by 20p
J. Increase it by 30p
K. Increase it by 40p
L. Increase it by 50p
M. Double it
N. Treble it

Vote here or click reply to discuss

britters

The first thing I want to make absolutely clear is that motor car use is NOT a primary cause of Global environment deterioration. :mad:

This is a scurrilous lie promulgated far too frequently without challenge by those with an anti car agenda. At worst, transport in it's entirety is responsible for just 17% of the global output of Co2 by man, and the car is but a percentage of that total, which includes that produced by public transport and air traffic. Industry is, by far, the greatest producer of Co2 (a part of which, of course, arises from the manufacture of motor vehicles, but not the greatest proportion), particularly in the US, former Soviet states, and Asia. There is also a fairly huge tonnage of Co2 produced by the many active volcanos around the world, although nothing can be done about that.

It is also a mistake to assume that Co2 is the major culprit in global warming. Methane gas, predominently from cattle and other ruminents is a far more effective warming gas, as is water vapour. This latter is of particular significance, since much is made of the potential of Hydrogen engines, which produce nothing but water vapour.

I hope this information helps to clear the fog of disinformation and propaganda that we are regularly fed in order to soften us up for further increases in fuel tax.

There's always an easy solution to every human problem -
- neat, plausible, and entirely wrong.:rolleyes:

britters

Is the figure of 60p tax per litre accurate?

If you go to the Association of British Drivers web site, you may be able to find an article which described a formula for calculating the tax take. This calculation gave the result that tax represented 610% of the producer price of petrol. You have to bear in mind that oil is taxed at just about every stage of production from extraction to delivery.

In consideration of this punative level of taxation, what value should we place on the government's declared intention to 'get us out of our cars'? Very little I fancy. If we all caught buses or trains, walked, cycled or stayed at home, the economy would collapse in about a week.

MSE_Martin

To answer the above two issues

I take your point on board - originally it said "the Global environment is rapidly deteriorating and our car use is one of the primary causes." and I have changed it to "the Global environment is rapidly deteriorating and transport is one of the primary causes."

As for petrol tax, yes its accurate, please see Petrol Price Cutting Article

poorgraduate

It is totally unrealistic for people to vote that all tax should be cut.

Petrol Tax is a major source of government revenue that helps to improve our transport infrastructure both public and private.

Yes, what the government has done with the money isn't exactly the perfect scenario we all want - but less face reality what would the UK’s roads, public transport etc be like if there wasn’t a petrol tax.

With regards the environment - it's a difficult one, that most of us haven't really been able to face - unless there is a reliable bus service that picks you up from your door (when you want) and drops you off where you want to be the population won't start to use public transport in any great numbers (barring the tube/ buses in London). Obviously this idea is never going to happen - so the only way forward with reference to cars is to improve their make up and make them more efficient and environmentally friendly. Increasing petrol tax will only inhibit the poor, the wealthy will moan a lot but it won't really affect them a great deal at all.

Paul1_2

In terms of taxation the Goverment is laughing all the way to the bank, a tiny fraction of road and fuel taxes are spent on roads and it really has no incentive to spend the money on real alternatives. One thought is that if we do all stop using cars income tax may well be a little bit higher.

As for the planet, if cars are the problem (and has already been highlighted this is questionable) then it has already been shown that any saving from this tiny island would be wiped out by emerging ecomonies such as China and of course our old friends the US within a year.

If this goverment is committed to climate change then action is needed globally, perhaps we should be making threatening noises to the countries than can actually make a difference if they don't comply, but as we all know that's unlikely to happen unless they are in the middle east and produce oil!

Paul1

PS did anyone else spot the slight of hand where the Goverment has not used the fuel escalator due to the high cost of fuel, but happy gains in increased VAT with each increase

bridiej

They're up in arms over here too about the price of petrol, which around where we live is up to about $1.40 - so 57p a litre!

I guess the thing is you get used to what you're paying and any increase you really notice.

It was our budget yesterday, there were calls for the treasurer to cut petrol tax (which didnt happen) as people are really worried and there has been an interest rate rise in the last week also.

I think the UK government could afford to cut a bit off the tax on petrol, especially since the investment in roads seems to be next to none (or it certainly was the case around where we lived, the roads were dreadful).

I really think climate change is a red herring used to make us feel guilty for running our cars, and if this really is a problem then the cost of air flights should increase substantially as they pollute the air far worse than cars do.

dchurch24

Petrol Tax is a major source of government revenue that helps to improve our transport infrastructure both public and private.

By which token we should have the bst transport system in the world, seeing as we pay the most for it in the world - but guess what? We don't.

If you had ever travelled in Europe of Australia you would find that transport - both public and private is a joy to use, at a fraction of the cost.

To say that the tax is used to improve our transport infrastructure, with all due respect, is simply not true. Train services are being cut, and if you'd bought any goods that were as defective as the roads then even the meekest consumer would take them back to the shop and demand a refund.

The infrastructure has not improved, yet the tax on petrol has increased.

Sure, if there were some proper signs of improvement I'm sure most people wouldn't mind paying the tax, bust sadly getting 10 miles down the road by car in this country takes about an hour. Getting 40 miles on a train takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes depending on wether the train actually shows up.

No; simply put, the tax on fuel is a con.

Lois_Lane

The Government collects revenue to support the highways in two ways - by taxing fuel and with car tax. Car tax is a one off payment, so each of us pays the same regardless of the number of miles we do, whereas fuel tax varies according to mileage and how fuel efficient your vehicle is. As it is the latter that is more damaging to the environment, I believe it is right to increase fuel tax rather than car tax.

jamojamo

The answer to fuel taxes seems simple to me. I am a taxi driver I average 60,000 miles a year. Can some one tell me why we cannot scrap road tax and put it on fuel the more you use the more you pay plus everyone has to pay when they fuel their vehicle including visitors from overseas. I know that road tax is used as a check on vehicles and their owners but this could be tranfered to the insurers.