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Monthly bulletin from local MP Charles Hendry - August 08 'Environment & green taxes'
One of the most challenging ideas to sustain in times of economic difficulty is environmentalism. People say it is all very well trying to cut carbon emissions when the economy is growing, but when families face tough choices on budgets, environmental considerations can easily fall by the wayside.
So, if we want people to become ‘greener’ then we have to make it both sensible and attractive for them to do so.
Over the past year or so the Government has proposed a series of what it calls ‘Green Taxes’. By this it says that it means taxing people to persuade them to change their behaviour, but what it is really doing is reaping the rewards of higher tax revenues for the Treasury without offsetting the tax increase elsewhere. It is not surprising that this gives Green Taxes a bad name.
To be effective, wherever Green Taxes are introduced, the Government should be lowering taxes elsewhere so that the overall tax burden does not increase. Sensible Green Taxes can therefore continue to have an effect on behaviour without hurting people in the pocket.
The Government’s recently announced Vehicle Excise Duty is a good case in point. It raises an additional £1bn for the Treasury but has a minimal impact on cutting emissions because it taxes decisions already made and simply ends up hurting people who bought a car up to seven years ago. This is just not fair.
Instead, there should be a Family Fund – into which all the proceeds from green taxes will go – and which will be used to finance tax relief for families. This way we can make Green Taxes work for both the environment and the family, rather than simply swelling the coffers of the Treasury.
We should also be doing more to reduce waste. It is not ‘green’ to reduce waste, but good common sense, but perhaps we have been looking at it from the wrong end of the telescope.
We certainly throw away a lot! In 2004/05, the UK sent 22.6m tonnes to landfill sites which compares badly with many countries in Europe. In France around 12m tonnes was sent to landfill in the same period and in Germany, with 20m more people than the UK, only 7.3m tonnes ended up on the heap!
The emphasis so far has been to penalise people for the waste they create. The Government has come under fire recently for seeking to impose a ‘bin tax’ in order to force people to throw away less and recycle more. But there is a better way. Instead of being fined for not recycling, households in the US are actually being paid for their recycling. Firms are contracted by local councils to reduce their landfill tax bills by pushing up recycling rates. They then use the proceeds to pay households up to $50 a month for their recycled materials which acts as an incentive for people to recycle. We have announced that we want to see this idea rolled out across the UK rather than simply hurting people in the pocket. While Labour want to regulate, ban and interfere to get their way, we want to work with people and give them incentives to act in a socially responsible way. With these and other ideas we believe we can continue the green revolution - even in times of economic downturn - and I believe that the British people react better to incentives rather than being told what to do by the Government. Charles Hendry MP SURGERY APPOINTMENTS If you would like to make an appointment to see me at one of my regular advice surgeries, please call my constituency office on 01323 489289. LATEST NEWS
HENDRY URGES PEOPLE TO SEEK EARLY ADVICE ON DEBT
http://www.charleshendry.com/news-article.php?news_id=261
Network Rail study into the reinstatement of the Uckfield-Lewes rail link
http://www.charleshendry.com/news-article.php?news_id=260
Hendry urges improved parking at railway stations
http://www.charleshendry.com/news-article.php?news_id=259
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