France carbon tax
Good news for the Greens this week – starting next year France are introducing a Carbon Tax of 17 euros for each tonne of carbon dioxide that gets emitted into the atmosphere.
Well, good news if it has any impact on our behaviour, sorts out the planet, and gives our grandchildren something like a breathable atmosphere and reasonable weather conditions as their inheritance.
If all it does is sweep more money into the state to pay an army of civil servants, which is what I suspect will really happen, then it is less exciting.
The government have said the money will be redistributed back to us the taxpayers in some way, which (head above the parapet for a moment) I think is a shame. Taking money from us with one hand and giving it back with the other doesn’t instinctively have much appeal…and sceptics might even think it will achieve little except a bit of job creation for the tax office.
I’m all for everything costing its ‘real’ cost, including the cost of cleaning up after its production, and I would have thought investing the money in de-polluting the planet would be a better use of the funds.
Enough worrying, what does it mean for our wallets, 17 euros per tonne?
Our car, pretty average, produces about 120 gm per kilometre, so about one kg each eight kilometres and one tonne every 8000 kilometres. Which makes a carbon tax in France of 0.2 cents extra per kilometre, which doesn’t sound too much. Or perhaps one euro extra each time the car gets filled up with petrol, perhaps 3% extra on the bill.
So far no-one seems too keen – Greenpeace say it won’t change our behaviour (presumably they think the tax should be much higher?); the UMP (Sarkozy’s party) fear we will all take to the streets and start putting up barricades in protest; and the socialists say it is unfair on those of us who live in the sticks where public transport doesn’t exist.
So it is perfectly acceptable to grumble about the carbon tax whichever side of the political fence you stand. Personally I though it was quite a good idea, but I’ll keep that opinion to myself for the time being.
No Comment. Are all the government buildings still lit. are the shop windows still lit.
Punish the people whilst governments do nothing.
I think it’s quite a good idea too, particularly if they carry out their pledge to use the cash raised to fund yet more grants and tax rabates to those fitting in renewables such as we benefited from. That is where real savings in consumption and polution can be made.