| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
16 Nov 2007 10:02:29 AM |
| Object: |
New green law could ration flights and raise fuel prices |
New green law could ration flights and raise fuel prices
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE
15th November 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=494367&in_page_id=1770
Fewer holidays: The amount of flights people take each year could be
limited
Britons face a future of green taxes, higher fuel prices and even
flight rationing under anti-pollution laws unveiled yesterday.
A Climate Change Bill would make the UK the only country with legally
binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The five-yearly goals would cost the UK up to £12billion a year for
the next 42 years.
The Government was warned that a switch to a low-carbon economy would
trigger an economic slowdown and job losses while giving politicians
the excuse for unpopular taxes, hike the cost of fuel and even bring
in "personal carbon quotas".
Critics also point out the move would be pointless if countries such
as China, Russia and India refuse to introduce similar targets.
Launching the Bill yesterday, the Government said Britain has a duty
to lead by example. It argues that the costs of climate-change related
flooding, droughts and illnesses would be far higher if it failed to
act.
The Bill does not say how carbon dioxide emissions will be cut.
However, it commits the Government to a 60 per cent reduction by 2050.
One method could be personal carbon-allowances, where everyone is
given a fixed amount of carbon to use each year.
Each time they travel in a plane, buy petrol, go shopping or eat out
would be recorded on a plastic card. The more frugal could sell spare
carbon to those who want to indulge themselves. But if you were to run
out of your carbon allowance, you could be barred from flying or
driving.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the Bill sets Britain "firmly
on the path to the low-carbon economy".
He added: "We need to provide the framework that will give a clear
idea of how we're going to tackle climate change.
"We also need to show that we're taking decisive action within our
borders and not asking other countries, in particular poorer
countries, to do what we're not willing to do ourselves."
Petrol: Would become a 'luxury' under new proposals
According to the food and farming agency Defra, cutting greenhouse gas
emissions by 60 per cent would shrink gross domestic product by
£1.6billion to £12billion each year as the UK switches to more
expensive renewable energy and energy intensive industries shut.
That does not include the costs of building "greener" power stations,
creating better public transport or closing polluting factories.
The Bill will set up a new quango - the Committee on Climate Change -
which will monitor the Government's progress. It will also introduce a
carbon trading scheme for local councils, supermarkets and other big
retailers.
Kendra Okonski, of the development charity International Policy
Network, said: "The UK's emissions are insignificant compared to China
and India.
We are in danger of cutting off our noses to spite our faces. We will
impose costs on our economy which will harm the poor, but do nothing
to help the climate."
But Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "Climate
legislation is desperately needed but the Government must strengthen
its proposals to make it truly effective."
--
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
"...the whole world, including the United States, including all that
we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark
Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights
of perverted science." -- Sir Winston Churchill
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
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