Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs

Daily Mail UK ^ | 27th May 2008 | David Derbyshire

[rawhide]

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.

But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.

The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is 'ahead of its time'.

The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.

For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.

Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.

Mr Yeo, chairman of the committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with a low carbon footprint with cash.

[Homer1]

It's a scam. Just like a Harry Reid land-grab. The pols and their froends will have no shortage of credits. They will buy them from the poor when the prices are low and then use the legislature to squeeze the proces higher.

[facedown]

Bye bye Britain.

[alarm rider]

England should at this point be ripe for a big honkin’ revolution.

However, no leaders, no firearms, no moral center, no religion, no clue.

Back to the Pub boys, it will all blow over.

[kalee]

My 94 year old Auntie says, “oh none of that affects me”
She gets uo eats her toast with tea, goes to the High Street to shop and have lunch, comes back home, has her afternoon tea and watches the telly while reading the paper and dozing, then she goes to bed.
She’s 94 so she has an excuse, what is everyone elses?

[kalee]

uo should be up.

I also forgot to say that she putters some on her garden and she knits.

[denydenydeny]

I want to thank you for that long, thoughtful post.

I only wish more people would understand that socialism always, always, always means a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the name of doing just the opposite.

[Right Wing Assault]

I would put a larger tank in my car and drain it into a storage tank at home. You know in the future they are going to cut that 300 to 250 to 200 to 150 etc.

Plan ahead.

[ConservativeMind]

How many farts allowed per card?

[Nowhere Man]

Why not? Once you disarm the populace, anything goes.

This MP needs a swift kick in the butt and frogmarched out of Parlement. The world's average IQ has gotten a bit dumber for him to have said that.

I keep thinking of the movie, "V for Vendetta" where the "Guy Fawkes" character repeats, "Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November."

[vpintheak]

Holy freaking crap! It’s not like the cost of fuel alone is outrageous, the benevolent overlords want you to pay even more for this BS money-making scheme. Unbelievable!

[samtheman]

COMING SOON: Whale blubber credits. I have not used whale blubber in years and have amassed a vast quantity of whale blubber credits that I will be releasing soon in a fire sale.

Bob, this is clever and would make me laugh if it wasn't so depressingly like reality. Our stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid politicians (with Republicans leading the Grand Stupidity Parade) will be willing to sign on to Whale Blubber Credits or Salamander Credits or Snail Darter Credits or any kind of credit you can think of because there is absolutely no way we can credit any of them with any intelligence at all.

[samtheman]

Good post. Very thoughtful. I have an extremely difficult time with McCain and won’t be voting for him, but your post is very well written with a lot to think about. Thanks.

[samtheman]

I just emailed that graphic to everyone in my address book.

[Lokibob]

Well, I have always wanted to save the whales. I am one humpback short of collecting the whole set. bruahahahah!!!

.....Bob

[Antoninus]

These people really are enviro-fascists. Remember that.

[Always Independent]

Tax on breathing now too?

[Jakarta ex-pat]

"MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes."

Hang the bastard and have done with him.

[rawhide]

You write with a lot of common sense in your post. People who did not vote for McCain, including me, and are having a hard time thinking about voting for him, including me again, ought to read your insightful post.

Very reluctantly, I will probably vote for McCain without any enthusiasm and while pinching my nose. And that is just to try to prevent Obama from winning and taking our country down the drain with his liberal policies.

[chaos_5]

I like it, its a grand idea. Personally I want socialist libs to suffer as much as possible for their foolishness. Crush the economy and live in the dark for all I care

[lowbridge]

bump