All these green taxes and rules are just witless nods to fashion

cuffleyburgers

Good point, well made.

As the Brown Bust bites, the populace's appetite for expensive "eco" taxes will plummet as well as consumption of "un-green" fripperies.

Therefore Britain will be greener as a result! Hooray!!

Martin C

You are to be congratulated for pointing out a few unpleasant home-truths to the green lobby:
1) Over 30% of the carbon produced by a car in its lifetime comes from manufacturing it. Buying a new slightly more economical car is an extremey un-green thing to do, which exposes the government's car licence duty changes for what they are: not green at all, but simply a tax gram by a cash hungry overspent state.
2) There is a massive carbon footprint in the manufacture of cement, concrete, bricks and paint etc. Large construction projects are extremeny un-green. Without large-scale immigration our population would be falling now; but as it is several new towns the size of Sunderland need to be built in thew south of England.
Reminds one "why we voted Labour in the first place", doesn't it, Rod?

Daniel

Good grief. Despite it making timely copy, Im surprised that a publication like The Spectator is peddling drivel like this. Rod Liddle is simply not listening to the science. This science is not a fad or a fashion. James Hansen, NASA’s head climatologist has been urging us for 20 years that human civilisation is about to be broken down by the climatic shifts that we are forcing on the planet, he is now joined by every major scientific academy in the world including the highest in the UK, US, France, Germany, Canada, China, India and also Harvard, Yale. Cambridge, Oxford and includes everyone from David Attenborough to Stephen Hawking. But still, supposedly intelligent publications refuse to accept scientific fact. What is coming will make a few measly taxes look like childs play. When will we wake up? On our own heads be it.

Martin A

Daniel...You are speaking garbage..The science has not been proved...The UK occupies only 2% of the world's surface...If there is a problem it's global solutions that are needed, not fining a householder £100 for having a wheelie bin lid raised 4 inches...Whenever I see the word Eco or Green I think stealth tax.
Good article Rod...we need more like this.

Patrick, London

Daniel,

You are full of it.

There is enormous disagreement even among climate scientists over the underlying data. The IPCC use the NASA Goddard data set - BUT - this has been arbitrarily adjusted.

The oceans are cooling. We are overdue another ice-age. Historically the planet has been through periods much hotter than now and much colder many times. I don't suppose that was my fault. The 13th century was hotter than you're 4C increase 'nightmare' - they liked it.

Populations shift if the climate and environment demand. Greenland was indeed green a thousand years ago but it's colder now.

Just get over this apocalypse crap. We'd be much better spending some money on flood defences than trying to ruin our economy on the alter of your bogus green religion.

Austin Barry

I suspect that Daniel may be one of those intense, brillo-bearded, matted-hair green types dedicated to conserving energy principally by avoiding bathroom showers. I have yet to meet any tax-paying adult who gives a toss about his 'carbon footprint', a phrase which inevitably evokes hoots of derison if used other than ironically.

John de Finchley

"we have a housing shortage largely because we allow too many properties to remain empty"

Great article but the above quote is not right. According to Migrationwatch, two thirds of housebuilding in on brownfield land and one third is on greenbelt land, and one-third of the housing shortage is due to immigration. Therefore, the pressure to build on the gree belt is a result of immigration.

Sue

Exactly, Rod.

Green and eco are now used by corporations government alike to squeeze the middle classes for premium rate prices and premium rate taxes.

Once we all believed in God and so everyone paid tithe taxes to the church, now none of the bien pensant believe in the passe, ordinary God, they've decided to replace him with something else: the Green God.

Heretics will be burned alive if they so doubt in the big Green God and its almighty omnipotence. It doesn't matter if it isn't you who really offends the Green God, but rather the corporations or the wastrels (the latter is excused of course by invoking the "class" clause on these issues) so instead the middle classes, the people most likely to do what they're told, can just pay through the nose for all this tripe.

I was going to ask how the clowns in office have got away with it but then I realised, two state-funded broadcasters in the shape of Channel 4 and the BBC.

Just like the deceitful green taxes, I don't have a choice over paying for the Beeb and C4 either. They know what they're doing these people in Downing Street, I'll say that for them.

Cassius

Good on yer, Rod, it is indeed the population size which is the core of the problem.
May I invite you to read my views on the topic at http://www.doot.co.uk/pop.home.htm

Verity

"Green" is the latest mean-spirited, vindictive weapon against the indigenous Brits.

One way to make Britain run in an orderly and proper way again would be to repatriate 90% of immigrants from Stone Age societies. Yes, I am prejudiced against them. As Ed Balls might say, "So weak!"

The Lavish Carbon Footprint

Is the "Daniel" posting here the same Daniel who got beaten up over his post on a "European Army" a couple of days ago? I think it's on Coffee House page eight. He got punched out, but these obsessives don't give up. By "obsessives", I don't mean obsessive about issues; I mean obsessive about control.

John Miller

Superb.

Bob from F

Noel Brown a previous Director of the UN environment programme said that we had ten years to solve the global warming crisis before it engulfed the world, rising sea levels, whole nations disappearing, crop failure etc etc. When did he say that? Well it was July 1989! Anybody noticed whether it has happened? Now all the big climate watchers , including Hadley in the UK are saying global warming is taking a rest for a few years (except Hansen at GISS and pretty much the whole of NASA has disowned him anyway Daniel!).
Rod is right, all this green science isn't up to much but it does give politicians the chance to bully us and worse. He who controls carbon controls life itself!

Bob

Finally an article that goes some way to mitigating Rod Little's supposed appalling taste in furniture! Anything that gets the seriously anti-historical eco-fascists in a rage is to be welcomed. Liddle is just saying what most of us know.

Rex Burr

What's your party called Rod?
You have my vote.

G4ry

Yes Liddle for PM

Marian C

Great piece Rod; Personally, I don't believe in all this Green nonsense; its just another way of bleeding more money out of us all.

The world has been through many dramatical changes of temperatures; the world heats up and then it cools down, this is nothing new and will carry on for as long as the world keeps turning and no amount of 'green tax' will change that.

As for eco towns, carbon footprints, etc; is just a load of old cobblers.

Reminds me of the nonsense that propogated about the Millenium Bug; people were told planes would fall from the skies, computers would crash, microwaves, fridges etc would all be rendered useless because they had microchips in them; all total crap of course, just like this so called global warming, or whatever the hell its called now

George Dodd

Yet again, I fully agree!

Rod for PM!

Oh, incidentally, my brother runs a 1969 Mk 1 Jensen Interceptor.
Yes, that's the one...6 litre (no typos there)...6 LITRES! FFS!
12 MPG if he's careful.
Guess what?
Tax exempt, because it falls into the "vintage vehicle" category, along with your Morris Minors, VW Beetles and Austin Allegros.

David Attenborough

Climate change is reality George Monobore and the othe r geezer , the well paid Prince's mate, and the worlds' leftie scientists say so as well as the UN. gravy traon employees, NU-baboons we should do exactly what they say, create a world government if necessary, so there!

Jonathan Dickson

How very nice to see an article such as this in the mainstream media. For a long time now I have known that most 'green' issues are scams. Actually I think it is caused by all the greens' self-loathing turned outwards. Having got bored with suggesting people check their premises when voicing anything about 'global warming', I set up a web-site, www.okgetreal.com, as an archive of articles that question this particular dogma. Never did I expect it to be so easy to find another side to the story and find out what a vast amount of material there is to cause us to doubt the whole thing. It is odd how little coverage is given to the sensible, rational side of the argument in everyday media, so many thanks to you, Mr Liddle for writing this article. Good for you, good for us, and good for the environment.
JD.

Kiffa

Of course the world is going to run out of oil - therefore we should be less wasteful in our consumption. Of course we should control our pollution. Of course we should try and use less. Of course we should recycle what we can. Of course we should conserve our oceans instead of using them as a common resource prone to rampant over-fishing and a global dumping ground.
That common-sense approach can be summed up in an old-fashioned word: thrift.
Why dress it up as some scary green global warming loony left theory???
High oil prices are starting to modify behaviour in a way that no amount of stupid lefty laws and taxes could, anyway.
When is the silent majority finally going to stand up to the smug liberal left elite and tell them to F off out of it? Is anyone else at Speccie comments quietly worried about the Cameroons, and wonder how different they are going to be from the current self-satisfied clowns?

Number 6

"Now all the big climate watchers...are saying global warming is taking a rest for a few years."
As with all the best religions, we have been saved-but only for the time being. Clearly more prayer and fasting are required.

Norman Graves

There is a way to measure the environmental impact of any action and that is to look at the economic cost after removing the skewing effects of taxation and subsidy. This is because to a very large extent energy is money and money is energy, so if something costs more then generally speaking it involves more energy; this is why a helicopter ride is more expensive that a bicycle ride.

Comparing costs net of tax and subsidy reveals some interesting results. Flying is less environmentally damaging than travelling by train. This is because of the enormous costs and energy required to construct and maintain the rail infrastructure compared to that of airports. Most such comparisons only look at the marginal fuel costs. Looking at the total revenues and total expenditures net of tax and subsidy and comparing the cost per passenger mile paints a very different picture.

Roy

Pleased to see overpopulation mentioned, it rarely is, and no doubt is never considered. Fifty million should have been the cap for Britain, but on and on goes the round-a-bout, with no recognition of it ever being a problem. Not satisfied with the islands own people it brings in the hordes from the east. What infantile minds have we?

Paul Hammans

Too right, Rod! If Globalisation is to work then it needs a political scare of global proportions to whip us all into line and climate change is a fantastic wheeze. I propose a 'windbag tax' to curb the emissions of errant politicians.

Trisha

Great article!
No, it's not about the science, or whether it's right or wrong, but the exploitation of the public by the greedy government climbing on the bandwaggon when they saw an opportunity to take yet more taxes.
They need to spend less time conjuring up new ways of squeezing even more money out of us under the guise of it 'being good for us all'.

John Bull

How refreshing !

Rod is of course completely guilty of "pikey-discrim" and his negatively vibed observations of a patently brain-cell-challenged pikey-hag would have been far better employed if he had thought positively and, for example, challenged us all to find and observe a "Green-Pikey", or even a "Socially-responsible-Pikey".

The disgusting habits of some of the 'Travelling Fraternity' pales to insignificance against the daily increasing extortion / robbery of us all by EU Diktat. Right down to local parish council level we can now see and feel the greed for increased spending power - hence more TAX - green, red or purple, it is still only 'spending-power' for government.

The inverted pyramid of financial corruption starts at the top with Brussels / Strasbourg, and filters down through an ever growing multitude of "State" employees and frightened local councillors.

"Frightened ?" Yes, frightened because they now know only too well that they are not responsible to us - the electorate - but to Brussels via a half hidden vector of the "Regional Authorities" - which remain despite being vetoed in the Northeast of England.

Respect for the Law ? The EU ?

No way ! Not even for its own "law".

M McGregor

Before we worry about the dubious motivation behind many so-called 'green' taxes and other measures, we need to realise that the main objective is said to be controlling global warming. In turn, we need to consider that the entire theory of it being Man-made emanates from a bunch of virulently anti-Western politicians who have moved to environmentalism because their favourite causes of anti- capitalism, anti-imperialism, and unilateral disarmament all disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union. We hear of the many 'politically sensitive' or outright coerced scientists who support them, but never from the literally thousands who don't.

Alison

Thanks. Great stuff. Any chance of a rational political party being set up to promote views we can all (except Daniel) support on "green" issues, and - perhaps - getting full national sovereignty back?

the duke of putney

Modern science is about falsification Daniel.
In other words all Swans are white until you see a black one.
In my youth geezers walked the streets with sandwich boards proclaiming
“The End of the World is Nigh”. So what!
Enjoy life my old china, currently you are consuming it with paranoia, keep it to yourself – thanks.

the duke of putney

Modern science is about falsification Daniel.
In other words all Swans are white until you see a black one.
In my youth geezers walked the streets with sandwich boards proclaiming
“The End of the World is Nigh”. So what!
Enjoy life my old china, currently you are consuming it with paranoia, keep it to yourself – thanks.

Edda Gahm

Loved this column. You could apply every point made to the place I live as far as the pols go. Freakin' California, of which I'm a navtive. Good work!

bill40

Can anybody (pace daniel perhaps?) post me one iota of evidence of co2 and climate change that is not compoyer model based?

Gautam

As usual Rod Liddle casts aspersions on things other people hold sacred. The wheelie bin is now more an object of veneration than any prized possession in the streets of Harrow, including assorted BMWs, Lexuses, etc. Every week entire streets of Harrow throng with worshippers opening and shutting wheelie bin lids unison in a moving act of obeisance to ensure they are in perfect order and harmony. Soon, a ritual redolent of idol immersion in an ancient culture is performed by an impeccably accoutred 'priesthood,' emerging from splendid multi-coloured chariots to undertake a final inspection. Another week must elapse before the anxious denizens of Harrow can perform the ritual again with exactitude, in accord with ancient borough manuals, to escape painful retribution. This, dear Ron, is not a tax, but a sacred offering to the wheelie bin god!

John H

Spot on Rod.
It might be blinding obvious to you and most of us that overpopulation heralds the distruction of our green and pleasant land. But my local MP in reply to a letter from me making the same argument stated emphatically that there is absolutely no evidence that more people means more environmental damage. Help! He is now a junior minister. How long will it be before Gordo promotes him to a senior post in Environment

Richard

I have to take thyroxine to stay alive. My thyroxine tablets used to come in two small brown bottles. Now they come in a load of cardboard boxes. Why the hell should I pay more in any 'pay as you throw tax' for that? I certainly don't want all that packaging. Yet it would be me paying the tax, not the drug company.

James drysdale

I am sure many of us in Australia agree and methinks the penny is beginning to drop!Tough times will make people think seriously about the cost of living-not just putting a hand in the pocket without considering the cost.The silent majority needs to wake up?

Alan C

“…slap a tax on out-of-town shopping centre car parks”

This off-the-cuff remark may well seem to be of the moment but in reality not everyone lives in a town or city. Getting to a supermarket of any consequence (where there is reasonable choice) involves a drive of some 36 miles (round trip) for me; so to find a tax on parking there as well as the cost of the journey is not something that I would want to live with or feel that it was justified.

Tom

Excellent article and comments (apart from Daniel).

Anyone who doubts we are victims of propaganda on a Stalinist scale should read the advice in 2006 of the Institute for Public Policy Research for public agencies dealing with the public (Warm Words, 2006) "Treating climate change as beyond argument….it is our recommendation that, at least for popular communications, interested agencies now need to treat the argument as having been won. This means simply behaving as if climate change exists and is real, and that individual actions are effective. The ‘facts’ need to be treated as being so taken-for-granted that they need not be spoken. The certainty of the Government’s new climate-change slogan – ‘Together this generation will tackle climate change’ (Defra 2006) – gives an example of this approach. It constructs, rather than claims, its own factuality."

The British “Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research” in a 2004 report wrote “to endorse policy change people must ‘believe’ that global warming will become a reality some time in the future. Only the experience of positive temperature anomalies will be registered as indication of change if the issue is framed as global warming. Both positive and negative temperature anomalies will be registered in experience as indication of change if the issue is framed as climate change. We propose that in those countries where climate change has become the predominant popular term for the phenomenon, unseasonably cold temperatures, for example, are also interpreted to reflect climate change/global warming”.

Dennis

Too many people is spot on!!
But sadly Rod, you missed the fact that there are too many MPs and too many government employees. Their numbers need to be reduced - DRASTICALY!

Bob

Environmentalism is nothing more than a zealous evangelistic religion, which is trying to force its agenda down everyones throat.
I remember an Ideal Home exhibition in Earls Court in the early 90's. This is where the Department of the Environment first publicly outed their new green agenda. I was preparing our own stand for the show and right next to us was a screened off work area building something called "The Green House". Something inside me felt deeply uneasy about it!
When it finally opened I managed to make time for a tour around it. It was of course full of all sorts of greeny gadgets, but I knew if I dug hard enough I would find what I was looking for. I finally found it, pride of place, on the centre of the table in the front room. "Environmentalism and the Gaia Principle", I had never, up until that time, heard of Gaia. The flyleaf said it all, if my memory serves me right. According to the author, environmentalism is the highest form of worship of Gaia the earth Goddess.
A coincidence you may say. Next year at the Ideal Home Exhibition, the Dept of environment had taken over the whole of Earls Court 2, the brand new extension. It was now "The Environment Exhibition". I decided to explore this to see if they were continuing along the same path. I was not disappointed. The exhibition was maybe 50% full of genuine bits and pieces that would save energy and maybe have some effect on the environment. The other 50% was either direct New Age religion or occult! What has this to do with saving the planet?
Also what on earth was this apparently bona fide Gov't department doing. It had clearly lost the plot.
Continuing for the last decade or so we can see the driving forces behind much of what goes on by looking at the camp followers.
It is so easy for ruthless profiteers in high places of power to get away with manipulating the whole of society, knowing that there is an increasing constituency of faithful and gullible voters who cheer every time the government goes one better than Kyoto etc.
Wake up Britain, stop believing the environmentalist lies. It might sound good, but it is just not true. For instance, Why did the climate change panel tell the scientists to remove evidence of the medieval warm period. Seek and you will find a truth that they do not want you to know!

Nick

Overpopulation? Exactly.
Unfortunately, capitalism says more people = more profit.
You can sell more bread, milk, cars, tv's, you-name-its to 80 million people than you can to 40 million. And this simple fact is never, ever mentioned.

Number 6

Nick: if overpopulation is due to capitalism, why is it that the poorest countries seem to have the fastest-growing populations while the more affluent countries have populations that are much slower-growing, if not actually shrinking?

Thomas

Racist filth. Mr Liddle is a disgrace.