Drivers To Pay Extra 'Climate Costs'?
Climate Change Committee demands big increases in fuel and road tax
The cost of motoring could be set to rocket in the next decade, if the UK's independent advisory committee on climate change gets its way.
A report published by the Committee on Climate Change - an independent body established under the Climate Change Act last year - recommends that a national road pricing system and significant hikes in fuel duty and Vehicle Excise Duty should be introduced. The committee has also demanded more stringent enforcement of speed limits.
The plans form part of a wide-ranging package to bring down average new car emissions down to 95g/km of CO2 from today's figure of 150+g/km.
"It is sometimes argued that if road pricing were to be introduced this would have to be offset by a reduction in fuel duty" says the committee's report. "From a carbon perspective, however, this would result in increased emissions (i.e. fuel consumption and emissions are potentially more responsive to fuel duty than to road pricing). From an emissions perspective, therefore, road pricing should be introduced as a complement to fuel duty rather than a substitute."
Far from reducing the cost of road tax, the report actually recommends significant increases in that, too: "Fuel duty is a potentially powerful lever in encouraging purchase of lower carbon cars (e.g. a 10% increase in petrol prices through a fuel duty increase could result in a 4% decrease in fuel used per kilometre)."
The report concludes that road pricing could be a "useful component of a strategy for transport emissions reduction, and the Committee recommends that this should be seriously considered by the Government."
The committee also suggests that a rigorous enforcement of motorway speed limits - which could possibly be lowered to 60mph - as a way of helping to reduce emissions. It says that this could be done either through an increased use of speed cameras or using Intelligent Speed Adaptation, which could potentially enforce physical speed limits on cars fitted with such technology.
The report also advises that the UK ought to have "3.9 million drivers trained and practicing eco-driving by 2020" and that it wants "240 thousand electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2015, and 1.7 million by 2020, supported by appropriate charging infrastructure."
For gods sake people need to drive for all manner of things such as WORK! Going to the shops and general day-to-day living which all in turn help the economy and the world keeps turning.
An even better way to reduce CO2 would be to tax people every time they left the house, hang on they do that already. Ok, start killing human beings then since they are clearly the cause of the CO2 production! (Sarcasm by the way)
It really doesn’t bare thinking about, I mean climate change is clearly an important subject but the clear lack of forward thinking that is employed by the powers that be is also a troubling subject.
Even if every car in the UK was solar powered, they wud stil find some cunning way to make some excuse to get money out of people. This carbon 4kery is a load of over exaggerated shyte.
I've looked into public transport to get to work, and even though I live in a town and work in another both with bus stops, there are no viable public transport links for me to get to work. there is one bus a day in each direction and both leave at about midday. So I need my car to get to work, I'm sick of being charged for the 'privilege', when all I'm trying to do is earn a living.
As has been the case with this government since 1997, looking to take the easy option rather then the effective one.
My brother runs his car on used vegitable oil that he gets for FREE therefore doesnt pay any fuel tax ect.
His friend also does the same thing, but he bought a storage and filteration tank from the government for something like 2g. And just when you think its all over, he needs to send off a sample of what he is producing to some lab, every 3 months that costs him 300 quid every 3 months! Do that maths, and it is cheaper to just buy deisel from the pump.
And if you own over 2400 liters of it, then you need to pay tax, on something you got for free? Yes, thats the government for you.
Its just madness.
Vehicle Excise Duty is utter b
ks, the Government should scrap it and just add 5p per litre to fuel duty.My brother runs his car on used vegitable oil that he gets for FREE therefore doesnt pay any fuel tax ect.
His friend also does the same thing, but he bought a storage and filteration tank from the government for something like 2g. And just when you think its all over, he needs to send off a sample of what he is producing to some lab, every 3 months that costs him 300 quid every 3 months! Do that maths, and it is cheaper to just buy deisel from the pump.
And if you own over 2400 liters of it, then you need to pay tax, on something you got for free? Yes, thats the government for you.
Its just madness.
Best bet is to run a diesel on RED you can buy it in bulk and fill up at home, obviously its a big no no and of you get caught there is a fine involved but its only 10% of the cars value. if u ran an old smoker worth £500 u could save the potential fine in a week.
kstains?
t?Any government that stands up against this anti-car b
ks disguised under 'climate' or 'safety' banners would get my vote - it would be the one and only reason I would bother to vote.Gassing Station | Motoring News | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff





