Did Brown green the Budget ......1 April 2007
It was Gordon Brown's last Budget as Chancellor but sadly he didn't go out with a big green bang.
Yes, there were positive steps made to green the economy but overall the Budget failed to respond to the urgency and scale of the climate change challenge.
Economics Campaigner, Dave Timms, commented:
Despite a welcome shift towards green taxes, this was an inadequate budget. The Government needs to wake up to the significant change that is necessary to save the planet from the effects of climate change.
The sticks...
The biggest gains for the environment in this year's Budget were in fuel and car taxes:
1) An increase of car tax for the most polluting cars to £400 over the next 2 years.
Gordon Brown MP
This will double the cost of car tax for the most polluting cars and therefore have an impact on sales.
The down-side is that Friends of the Earth was calling for a top car rate of £2000 and a far greater cut to car tax for more efficient cars than Mr. Brown delivered.
However it is still a move in the right direction and it is unlikely the tax would have increased without pressure from Friends of the Earth and others.
2) Above inflation fuel duty tax rise over the next 3 years.
This green measure was fiercely opposed by the car industry and fuel duty tax has been either frozen or cut in previous years so this is another positive change.
... and the carrots
Bugs Bunny is going hungry. There were no big incentives in the Budget to encourage people to cut their carbon emissions.
For example, there was no new help for people wanting to take energy efficiency measures in their homes even though they offer the quickest, most cost-effective way to cut carbon emissions.
Watch this space though. Friends of the Earth is starting to campaign to make going green at home both cheap and easy.
For further analysis of the budget, please see our post-Budget press release.
