I saw the other night on the BBC News, an example of how to reduce carbon emissions and make your home more energy efficient and it must have been the most stupidest and impractical report I have ever seen.
I cannot remember the exact percentage, but it was in the 60's, I think it was 67%.
So, the report went on to show you that to "do your bit" for the environment and make some degree of change, then you would have to get rid of the car, get rid of the central heating, use energy bulbs, insulate your home, recycle paper/glass and get rid of all electrical appliances.
I already use energy bulbs, recycle paper, have a compost bin and have my home insulated, but I wasn't thinking about "green" issues at the time more like saving the colour of the bank notes when paying the utility bills.
The car tax is a good example of the wanton waste of money and if the revenue collected from motorists is being spent on the roads, it most certainly isn't being spent in my neck of the woods, the same applies to the rail network, local services are old rolling stock that should be shipped out to third world countries.
Spain has been one of the biggest receivers of E.E.C funds, putting very little back in the "pot" and we post on this forum about the amount of investment that is taking place right now in the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol, with regards to the rail network not forgetting the amount of roads that are under construction.
The average Spaniard isn't paying for the billions of euros being invested, they don't earn enough to fully fund the ventures, but we are, through our contributions to the E.E.C"¦but I don't see too much E.E.C money being spent on Britain.
Budapest is having a state of the art mono-rail/underground system, but we British are still using a rat infested, Victorian underground network.
If global warming is such a threat with sea levels expected to rise, then why is the Thames barrier not being reconstructed and brought "up to date" ready for this.?.....with E.E.C funds.?
We are an Island, therefore why is our coastline not being reinforced.?"¦again ready for the expected rise in sea levels.
Now if this "green tax" was spent on some of the issues I have raised, then I would not object to it.
I was also taught at school about why we have volcanoes erupting to "cool" the earth's core and why the ocean plates move to reduce the pressure on the planet, but politicians blame any natural disaster on global warming.
There is no doubt in my mind that the climate has changed over the last 50 years, we do not get the severity of the winters like we had and the seasons are no longer distinguishable, but is it ALL down to carbon emissions.?
Peter's link also raises the importance of "water vapour" in the atmosphere and without this, there would be no life, could the fact that man has hacked down acres of rain forests have anything to do with the climate change.?
The issue of global warming has too many if's, why's and but's in it, to conclusively state that it is all down to carbon emissions.
IMO : The "green" tax is nothing more than a stealth tax under the cloak of environmental issues, and the politicians know that they cannot tax the motorists anymore, apart from trying to make them pay for the roads that they drive upon, they have bantered the idea around to judge the mood of the population, and the recent petition has given them something else to think about so, now it is the turn of the air passengers instead.
I'll gladly pay the tax and turn off all my lights, although it would take me back over 50 years when just after the second world war we had to do this, if for example, the yanks pulled the plug on the lights in Las Vegas and the world put pressure on the countries that are the main culprits.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out who the culprits are, when the UK has 60 million people, USA 300 million people and China has over 1000 million people with over 2000 coal fired power stations and still rising.
Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
