Keen On Green
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Politics
UK to Slow the Adoption of Biofuels
Jul 8th
The UK will continue to expand the use of biofuels in petrol and diesel for transport, but at a slower rate amid fears they raise food prices and harm the environment, the transport secretary has said.
Ruth Kelly told the Commons that Britain needed to press ahead with biofuels because the technology could still prove beneficial. But she said the government would slow down their introduction.
The Chancellor and the Climate…
Mar 12th
Ok, so the Chancellor’s delivered his first Budget today, but the big question is, was it a Green Budget or not?
Well we’ve outlined the main Climate related points of the Budget for you below:
- On the back of record oil prices, the planned 2p per litre increase in fuel duty has been postponed until October. However, for environmental reasons, duty on fuel will rise by 0.5p in real terms by 2010.
- Road pricing could fight congestion, so new funding committed to its development.
- From 2009 there will be new bands of road tax for the most polluting vehicles. From 2010, lowest emission cars will pay no tax in first year.
- Target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% may be extended to 80% by 2050.
- Legislation to come into force in 2009 to impose a charge on single-use carrier bags if progress is not made on a voluntary basis.
- £26 million next year to help homes cut their carbon footprint and energy consumption.
- New non-domestic buildings zero carbon by 2019.
- First carbon budget pledged alongside next year’s Budget.
So all-in-all I don’t see that as too bad for the Climate. Obviously there’s always more that could be done but it’s good to see that things are moving in the right direction!
The one really exciting point of this for me is next year’s “Carbon Budget”. I’ll try and find out some more about what exactly this will consist of but it sounds as though it could mean big things for this Country’s commitment to the Environment and the fight against Climate Change.
A Green Budget?
Mar 11th
It is anticipated that the chancellor Alistair Darling will on Wednesday use his first Budget to raise “green” taxes.
In a costly concession, he is expected to announce that a 2p rise in fuel duties will be delayed by six months to avoid angering motorists, who are bearing the cost of rising oil prices.
But is this being done for the right reasons or are the Government just trying to grab more of our money?! I’m all for taxing car users more, but let’s hope the Government will put the extra revenue to a good cause!