Petrol prices versus the environment

charlieheard

I strongly disagree that UK car use is a "primary cause". If the governement really cares about the environment, they'd tax main producers of CO2, such as aircraft and power stations. Huge amounts come from the latter - so much for all those "green" electric cars. But then the airlines would buy fuel elsewhere and we'd get rampant inflation due to energy prices. No government would do that... :rolleyes:

By all means put up the tax on fuel to make people think about the need for (and environmental implications of) every journey. But CO2 from cars and trucks makes up only a tiny proportion of the total. And our pollution controls are stringent.

The UK's output is a few percent of the world total, so anything we do will have a tiny effect. We should be worrying about major pollution producers such as

1. the USA - 5% of the world's population, over 25% of its energy consumption
2. China and India - both have few pollution controls in place and China is opening a new power station every week

This wasn't meant to be an environmental rant, but so much attention is focused on UK fuel prices without viewing the wider picture, both here in the UK and across the world.:mad:

david_hellier

I think we should abolish Excise duty on petrol and introduce a special VAT rate, say 50%+ so that businesses can reclaim. This would hit the commuter but not harm too much, the legitimate business. For the commuter, petrol needs to be unbearably expensive, say £20 per gallon to have a positive effect on public transport and the environment.

andy5241

Why don't they just do away with car tax, and then everyone who visits this country and drives will be paying their share. Then this may bring down the cost of fuel because more people are paying for it.

:cool:

Vegeeta

I think that the road fund licence, car tax to you and me, should be abolished alltogether.
Then the government should add about another 20pc onto fuel duty.

This is the correct thing to do, because you then pay for how many miles you drive, how clean your car is, how you drive and to an extent when you drive.

- If you are driving a clean car, you will use less fuel and be charged less.
- If you are on a busy road or on peak time, it is more likely that your journey will be stop/start. That uses more fuel so you are getting charged more.
- If you drive fast, you'll really pay for it.

tellyerworraldowivyer

I think the main problem is unecessary journeys, the school run when the school is a quarter of a mile away, local shop visits, it's raining etc....
If we cut down on them it would help I think.
Also, looking for alternative fuels seems a good idea, I remember a few times though people saying that oil companies bought the production out and quashed them, don't know how true that is though.
Yes transport is average at best in cities, poor to non existant in rural areas, but then I have been on some rural village services that connect to towns and they see very little use!

golddustmedia

Thinking about it, if the tax on fuel were lower I would consider going for a day out with the family, maybe to the seaside etc. Instead we can't afford the petrol so stay at home where we use the cooker, tv, lights, heating etc etc and instead of spreading carbon dioxide out of the exhaust pipe we get the electricity company to spread it out of a huge chimney instead....

Net gain the environment: 0 points!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Below are the results to our previous poll. Thanks to the 2507 participants who took part in this poll.

Previous Poll Topic: Poll Started 9 May 2006. The Global environment is rapidly deteriorating and our transport 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)

D. Cut it by 30p 15.9% - (401 Votes)
A. Cut all tax 15.5% - (389 Votes)
G. No change 14.7% - (371 Votes)
B. Cut it by 50p 11.2% - (281 Votes)
E. Cut it by 20p 10.3% - (260 Votes)
N. Treble it 7% - (177 Votes)
F. Cut it by 10p 6.1% - (155 Votes)
C. Cut it by 40p 6% - (151 Votes)
M. Double it 3.4% - (87 Votes)
H. Increase it by 10p 3.3% - (84 Votes)
I. Increase it by 20p 1.9% - (50 Votes)
L. Increase it by 50p 1.9% - (48 Votes)
J. Increase it by 30p 1.4% - (37 Votes)
K. Increase it by 40p 0.6% - (16 Votes)

Total Votes: 2507

golddustmedia

teddyco wrote:

Don't worry, God is in control!

Now that opens a whole new can of worms which I don't think we should touch here...

BigVarn

I am a self-confessed evangelical environmentalist (I cycle or use public transport [yes, I do live in London] and recycle and compost household waste), but I am rational enough to accept that some of the environmental arguments can be questioned, particularly greenhouse warming, since each side has built up a bank of experience & statistics to make them sound like the authority on the subject.

Beyond the soundbites there are hard, inescapable facts that every single one of you should consider: cars are enormously, grotesquely inefficient and rely upon a finite resource, sourced primarily in politically unstable, volatile parts of the world. I believe that there is still a great deal of energy inefficiency within our economy - why do shops leaving all of their lights blazing? How many of you work in large, open-plan offices, where your colleagues leave their computers on all week and all weekend, regardless of whether or not they're in use?

It's said that a pessimist is rarely disappointed. I am pessimistic about most people and their environmental views, but I am optimistic that the contribution that my family will be making to the general environmental mess will be far smaller than most.

Martin_Edney

teddyco wrote:

What greatly disturbs me is the amount of alarm and fear that is being constantly used in the media and government to drive people to pay higher taxes and feel guilty

It's a shame that you use the argument "the link between motor vehicles and global warming isn't proven" to then imply that using motor vehicles lots doesn't harm our environment.

My questions to you are, "would you willingly live next to a very busy main road?", and "would you enjoy walking along a busy road in rush hour?". I think the answer to both of these will be a resounding "no", so even if you're right that the causal link from motor vehicles to global warming is not certain, there's no doubt that heavy traffic spoils the environment of those that have to put up with it or who live near it, or are chased off the roads by it.

Don't forget that the environment is where we all live, not just some distant piece of the Antarctic.