Letter to Gordon Brown on Global Warming

18th November 2005

Global Warming Is The Responsibility Of Government, Not Consumers.

Dear Sir,
  Government alone has the power to stop global warming. Removing taxes from renewable energy businesses is the single most effective way to combat global warming... It may, in fact, be the only way.

A great deal of the responsibility for environmental issues has been put on the consumer. A large proportion of environmental pressure goes on attempting to convince the consumer to be more efficient in their energy use, to recycle, etc. This emphasis is fundamentally wrong.

While it is true that the different lifestyles damage the environment different amounts, it is a dangerous fallacy to say that normal working people are responsible for the state of the environment. Responsibility implies choice and it is not physically possible for consumers to buy zero-pollution products.

The much overlooked truth is that it can only be government's responsibility to stop global warming. The consumer is unable to enact legislation themselves. Only government can enact the laws which determine what is or isn't allowed – or even what is profitable and what is not.

Given a choice, the majority of the population would not hesitate to vote for sensible, effective, green legislation.

Despite Mr. Blair's assertion that global warming is 'the biggest single threat we face today', recently (Nov 2005) your treasury has decided that recycled vegetable oil as a fuel should attract the highest level of duty - 47.1p/litre.

This one statement has killed a new green industry that would have hugely benefited the country's economy and ecology. You have the power to make or break industries with a few words. This is the ability which sets government apart from the consumer and it's time they put that ability to better use.

There is only one way to stop global warming. That is to stop burning fossil fuels. They are the sole source of the extra CO2 that causes it. Prohibition is not the answer, not even subsidies are necessary - all the treasury has to do is enable the green energy industry to take off by making it profitable:

Remove all taxes and duties on renewable fuels & renewable energy machines.

These activities could be taken right out of the tax system cutting administration costs hugely for both parties.

This would include:

• Biofuels.
• Solar / wind / geothermal / methane / wave equipment...
• Any other electricity from renewable sources

If this was done, it's easy to image that 80-90% of the UK's energy could be coming from renewable sources within a mere ten years. Global warming is easy to stop. The government just has to stop taxing this business out of the market!

If you were to even make simply make the same tax-incentives that are available to oil-platforms available to renewables that would help enormously.

Perhaps you are not aware sirs, that it is you and your choices that are fuelling global warming more than any other factor – simply by failing to provide the same tax-incentives to renewables as you do to fossil fuels.

You should, of course, be providing far greater incentives to renewable energy sources. The treasury would lose income as people switch from taxed oil to untaxed biofuels, but this would be offset by increased wealth and higher spending.

The cost to our country of the effects of unbridled global warming will be massive. For the sake of a few simple tax-breaks! Please act now!

Reply From HMRC

Thank you for your email. I have been asked to respond, I apologise for the delay in doing so.

The Government is committed to meeting environmental challenges, and will introduce economic instruments where they are appropriate and cost-effective. In line with this, the Government has already introduced a number of measures since 1997- such as the climate change levy and reforms to the company car tax and vehicle excise duty. The Government uses a range of policy instruments to tackle failures of the market to take account of environmental costs - including spending measures (eg funding for R&D), regulatory measures, voluntary approaches and trading schemes (e.g. EU Emission Trading Scheme, Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme).

However, the Government recognises that it cannot sit back and therefore keeps all environmental taxation under review and has recently evaluated a number of key measures, including the climate change levy and aggregates levy. Also work is ongoing to develop new economic instruments including a Green Landlord Scheme and enhanced capital allowances for biofuels.

You say that waste vegetable oil should benefit from a duty incentive. It may help if I explain that the reduced rate of duty for biofuels is intended to provide for the additional cost of producing this fuel compared with ordinary diesel, and to reflect its environmental benefits. The duty reduction is available only to road fuel that meets the biodiesel specification set out in section 2AA of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979. Guidance on this is contained in Business Brief 10/05 and Public Notice 179E - Biofuels and Other Fuel Substitutes, which are available on HM Revenue & Customs' website (www.hmrc.gov.uk ), and explain that it is up to the producer/user of the product to show HMRC that the product meets the full definition.

Please be assured that your comments have been noted and will be considered in the context of the Chancellor's Budget statement.

Kind regards

Simon Jackson
Transport taxation policy
HM Treasury

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