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Foreign Secretary calls for "Global Warming" tax on airfares
Holidaymakers could be hit with a "global warming" tax of up to £50 under plans aimed at forcing airlines to reduce gas emissions.Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the new charges should be imposed by as early as 2008 or Britain will be thrown into "climate chaos". In a keynote speech, Mrs Beckett urged Brussels to speed up plans to enforce the levy on airlines to encourage them to fly more fuel-effecient planes and deter people from travelling by air. The cost is almost certain to be passed on to holidaymakers as budget airlines would be worst affected by what the aviation industry describes as a "tax on holidays". Experts say the scheme could put £50 on the cost of flying from London to California, £35 on tickets to New York and between £5 and £10 on flights within Europe. Mrs Beckett used her speech in Berlin to up the pressure on Germany - which is taking over the presidency of the EU - to speed up progress on combating global warming. But her comments risked being undermined by a Government report which yesterday suggested that airline routes could be used to replace rural train lines in Britain. The Department for Transport document - its response to an earlier consultation on the future of Britain's railways - said: "In some circumstances, air transport may be a viable alternative and cannot be ruled out from the onset." Air travel is the fastest growing source of greenhouse emissions. The average jet pumps close to a tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for each passenger it carries from London to New York. A non-solution to a non-problem. Posted by: Jackal 2006-10-25 |
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