British ‘Green’ Air Tax Imperils Environment?

Kay Sexton — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:46:06 +0000

Caribbean organisations have said that the environmental tax that the British Government is planning to impose on all flights will cause immense damage to the Caribbean economy. The tax is expected to be in the region of £100 pounds per passenger and will be levied on departure from British airports.

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation has written to many organisations and individuals ranging from the BBC to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, pointing out that the system used to define the tax level is unfair to the Caribbean. Because it works on a distance basis, measured between the British capital and the capital of the destination country, the Caribbean (defined in this case as Kingston Jamaica) ends up in a more expensive levy band that the USA. The chair of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, speaking for many of the small islands, said, ‘Our countries’ economies are hugely dependent on tourism. But the British government plans to place us in a more expensive tax category compared to the whole of the USA. This puts us at a considerable disadvantage. To suggest this is a green tax and that the environmental impact of flying to California or Hawaii is less then flying to the Caribbean is patently untrue. Our holidaymakers and the overseas friends and relatives of Caribbean nationals who live in Britain are being heavily penalised and our countries call on Britain to do the right thing and change this injustice.’

Freiburg: Germany’s Eco-Town Flagship

Mark Seall — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:00:49 +0000

Earlier this week I wrote a particularly winging post, complaining about lack of UK government action on tackling climate change and arguing that many governments merely see green issues as an excuse to raise tax revenues.

Today I would like to look at a situation where the reverse is true, visiting the Germany eco-town of Freiburg .

At first glance, those Germans may appear to have limited green credentials. Fearful of potential impact on their high performance car industry, Germany has lobbied aggressively in recent months to delay new EU legislation aimed at improving vehicle fuel economy. Germany is also home to six of Europe’s ten most polluting power stations and has been keeping quiet about plans to build 24 additional coal powered plants.

However, in terms of concrete and practical actions aimed at making a real difference to the environment, this nation of passionate recyclers, high speed railway builders, and renewable energy nuts appear to be way out in front.

Green Options » green taxes

British ‘Green’ Air Tax Imperils Environment?

Freiburg: Germany’s Eco-Town Flagship