UK New Car Carbon Tax Scarfs $5b, Does Sweet FA for CO2
The Daily Mail reports that the UK's new carbon tax works spectacularly… as a revenue-builder. The recently-increased "showroom tax" costs consumers between $500 and $2k on cars based on their C02 emissions. According to her Majesty's Treasury, the carbon tax will add nearly $5b to the government's coffers. And here's the kicker: the gov's own figures will only decrease auto-related greenhouse gas emissions by… wait for it… less than one percent. Conservative Treasury spokesman Justine Greening discovered the discrepancy between the cost to consumers and benefit to the environment during that awesome fixture of the British Parliamentary government known as "Parliamentary answers." "This is a massive tax hike which will have virtually no impact on the environment," said Greening. "Despite their claims, the Government don't expect this move to change behaviour at all – it is just another eco stealth tax of the worst kind." Hear hear.
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In the end, the tax on the car purchase will not effect the fuel budget of the buyer. Even if the buyer buys a higher mpg car, he will likely just drive more miles. This carbon tax on the car idea is like trying to stop speeders by fining their cousins. It may work on a few people (like Tony Soprano's cousins), but it's not the way to go.
Don't worry Katie, You'll save the earth. Just keep paying for it through your sweat and labor and all will be alright. Trust me, the Government has YOUR best interest at heart. They really don't view you as a servant and someone "beneath" them...oh no....they really DO work for YOU! They care about your welfare and they care about that CO2 you are currently exhaling from your nostrils. They worry about it day and night and want to make matters right. They care about Mother Earth just as much as the Catholic Church cares about the welfare of little boys and girls :)
Just know, you are doing the Queen a Royal Service by paying that tax!!! Oh...the QUEEN!!! There's no such thing as serfdom in England, is there???
Hey, Good post Ed. The truth about government environmentalist activism. The "carbon tax" is just a method of creating a world wide income tax... for the sheeple of course.