Bisop on Green Taxes

A new green tax covenant
from Pickled Politics by Rumbold

With the price of oil climbing ever higher, there is increasing anger at the level at which petrol is taxed in this country. Britain has the second most expensive fuel in Europe (Germany is top), and it is tax that accounts for the majority of the cost. Protestors want Gordon Brown to reduce the tax on fuel, while environmentalists urge him to resist in the hope that people will use less oil in the future, and/or switch to alternative fuels.

Despite believing that man is contributing to climate change, many people are justifiably suspicious that green taxes, which are theoretically designed to encourage people to adopt a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, are just an excuse for the government to raise more money. A few people still think that man has nothing to do with climate change, but then they are just incestuous paedophilic kidnappers, according to the Bishop of Stafford.

Let us assume for the moment that green taxes are effective, in that they will lead to people being in a more environmentally-friendly manner. These taxes are thus desirable, so long as the overall tax burden does not rise. There is a simple enough way to convince people that green taxes are not just another means by which the government raises revenue; every pound raised by green taxes should be matched in cuts on income tax, by raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax. Moreover, the tax on oil should be reclassified, so that 25% of the tax counts as a green tax. This 25% would then be spent on the basic state pension.

Therefore, without raising the overall tax burden, the government can encourage people to behave in a more environmentally-friendly manner (good), raise the threshold at which income tax is paid (good, and which benefits the lowest paid the most), and increase the basic state pension (good, and which benefits the poorest pensioners the most).