Green Options

Oregon State Representative Ben Cannon has proposed a 1900% increase in state beer tax, leading PETA to issue a letter asking him to instead consider a small meat tax in the state.

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.