Alliance against road building

 

PRESS RELEASE – 5th July 2005


FUEL DUTY MUST GO UP TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE


Road Block, the alliance against road building, reacted with anger today as the government yet again chickened out of increasing fuel duty for the fourth year in a row. Road Block believes raising the price of fuel is essential in the battle to tackle climate change. The day before the G8 conference begins, this is yet more evidence that government talk about tackling climate change is simply hot air.


The 'war against the motorist' is a myth. Since Labour came to power, the price of motoring is now below 1980 levels, whilst the cost of public transport has rocketed (up to 30%). This cowardice has cost the Treasury £2 billion a year (1), since the government abandoned the Conservative introduced fuel duty escalator in 2000, after terrorist tactics by the fuel protesters.


Currently, transport accounts for over 25% of CO2 emissions in the UK, and is the only source to be rising, making it the most critical policy area to start making cuts in. It also remains the area the government is most cowardly about tackling, since the 2000 fuel protests. The Environmental Audit Committee have repeatedly said that fuel duty must go up, most recently in April 2005, in the race to beat climate change (2).


Rebecca Lush of Road Block said


"It is time this war on the motorist myth was exploded, and it is time for the necessary urgent action on climate change. This cowardice on the part of the government is putting future generations at risk through climate change. The government must bite the bullet, stop dithering and put the price of fuel up. The price of fuel should reflect the damage it does to this planet. As the prime minister says that climate change should be top of the agenda for the G8, this political act of cowardice spells disaster for climate change action in the UK".


Notes to Editors:


(1) Abandoning the Fuel Duty Escalator in 2000 has cost the Treasury £2 billion according to a 2004 report by the Economic and Social Research Council. http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/index.aspx and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3716346.stm


(2) The Seventh Report of the Environmental Audit Committee was published on April 2005 -
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmenvaud/261/26102.htm . This reflected the concerns raised in the August 2004 Tenth Report - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmenvaud/490/49002.htm