Green Taxes

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People need to be sure that the revenue raised from green taxes is used to clear up the mess and to fund the development of new, less damaging technologies. As the Green Party says: 'Using green taxes as a cash cow to fund general government spending leaves people feeling ripped off, and goes against the spirit of eco-taxes.' There is evidence, too, that green taxes fall disproportionately on the poor.

According to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation: '…consumption of energy, water and waste disposal services in poorer households is disproportionately high in relation to their income. The same is true of petrol or diesel for those who own cars. Consequently, flat-rate environmental taxes or charges would be 'regressive' – claiming a greater share of income from poor people than from better-off households.' Carefully thought-out charging mechanisms need to be built in to green taxes to ensure that the poor don't pay more than their fair share.

Despite all this, most individual consumers and many businesses have their hearts in the right place. Unfortunately this is offset by the many companies and governments that are highly resistant to paying the real price for non-renewable natural resources, preferring to pass on what the economists call 'external costs' to other people, to other countries and to future generations.