Miliband plans carbon trading 'credit cards' for everyone

 Miliband plans carbon trading 'credit cards' for everyone

Patrick Wintour
Monday December 11, 2006

Guardian
Every citizen would be issued with a carbon "credit card" - to be swiped every time they bought petrol, paid an energy utility bill or booked an airline ticket - under a nationwide carbon rationing scheme that could come into operation within five years, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the environment secretary, David Miliband, and published today.

In an interview with the Guardian Mr Miliband said the idea of individual carbon allowances had "a simplicity and beauty that would reward carbon thrift".

He acknowledged the proposal faced technical difficulties, but said ministers needed to seek ways of overcoming them.

The idea was floated in a speech in the summer, but the detailed proposals show Mr Miliband is serious about trying to press ahead with the radical idea as a central part of his climate change strategy.

Under the scheme, everybody would be given an annual allowance of the carbon they could expend on a range of products, probably food, energy and travel. If they wanted to use more carbon, they would be able to buy it from somebody else. And they could sell any surplus.

The study was prepared by the Centre for Sustainable Energy for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It argues that firms like Tesco have shown that complex computer schemes logging billions of transactions are feasible. "Tesco Clubcard is collecting, storing and analysing some 50bn pieces of data a year," it says.

The study also claims that individual carbon trading is less regressive than carbon taxes, as the poor emit less than the rich. Instead of flat "green" taxes it proposes a hybrid system using permits and taxes, with the permits possibly issued, tracked and traded through the existing banking system using pin and chip technology. Carbon allowances could be treated as bank accounts.

The report admits huge questions would have to be resolved, including the risk of fraud, the relationship to ID cards, and costs. However Mr Miliband said "bold thinking is required because the world is in a dangerous place".

He said: "It is a way of pricing carbon emissions into individual behaviour and it would recognise carbon thrift, as well as economic thrift. Twenty years ago if I had said 8 million people would have a Tesco loyalty card, no one would have believed me." The scheme will be discussed at a special cabinet committee on the future role of the state convened for today.

Advocate for Environment to Head Canada's Liberals

Not a bad development...


Advocate for Environment to Head Canada's Liberals

By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 3, 2006; A21



MONTREAL, Dec. 2 -- In a convention that underscored the rising political weight of climate change issues, Canada's Liberal Party on Saturday chose St?phane Dion, a former environment minister, to lead the party and try to wrest power from the ruling Conservatives in the next national election.

Dion, 51, was elected head of the party over seven other candidates, including Michael Ignatieff, a renowned Harvard professor who returned to Canada last year and had quickly become a front-runner in the race to head the opposition against Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ignatieff's drive for the post stumbled in the fourth and last ballot over his opinions on Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. The fragmented delegations at the convention turned to Dion, whose environmental credentials overcame his thickly accented English and lackluster convention speech.

In his acceptance speech, Dion repeatedly emphasized his main goal: dealing with what he called "the greatest challenge we have today, sustainable development."

He was elected, he said, because "Canadians have a deep concern about the main issue of our time -- building a sustainable environment for our children."

It was a message the delegates embraced.

"We've recognized that global warming and Kyoto are agenda items we have to deal with. Canada has gotten the message," said a delegate on the convention floor, Paul Mulligan, 60, a retired cartographer.

Dion must regroup the Liberals, long the dominant party in Canada, to try to reverse the loss in January to Harper's Conservatives. The party hopes that disillusionment with Harper for cutting social programs, rising despair over Canadian military losses in Afghanistan and opposition to Harper's retreat from the Kyoto environmental accord will topple the Conservative minority government.

As visual evidence of the importance of environmental issues, the sea of green T-shirts worn by Dion's supporters grew as the balloting continued in Montreal's cavernous Palace of Congress. Each of the candidates had pledged to make aggressive strides on the environment, but Dion's long work to strengthen the Kyoto accord carried those who put the issue at the top of the agenda.

An academic and native of Quebec City, Dion entered Parliament a decade ago and has held a variety of cabinet posts under Liberal governments. But in his last post, as environment minister, he won credit for devoting enormous effort to extending the provisions of the Kyoto accord. He owns a husky named Kyoto.

But he is less well-liked in his home province of Quebec because of his opposition to the popular movement to make the French-speaking province an independent country. In the late 1990s, Dion carried on a long-running debate with supporters of separatism and eventually assisted in drafting a law that many Quebecers feel helps block their movement.

"Quebec people don't like St?phane Dion," said Jean Pierre Laine, 54, an alternate delegate from Montreal. "He is a federalist." Quebec newspaper cartoons at the time portrayed him as a rat; he was pilloried as a traitor to his province.

"It will be an uphill struggle for Dion in Quebec," agreed Charles Hubbard, a member of Parliament from New Brunswick, in the convention hall. "The people who question federalism see Dion as the arch devil."

That is a burden for the Liberal Party, which had hoped to strengthen its position in the province. Dion's speaking style, often wooden and stilted, also is seen as a detriment in any matchup with Harper, who is smooth and fluent in both English and French.

Dion "is a bit rigid," said David Carter, 58, a delegate from Medicine Hat, Alberta. But he is "highly principled. He's strong, intelligent and very committed to the country."

In Canada's Parliament and other public appearances, top officials are expected to switch between both official languages with ease. Dion's syntax is sometimes difficult to sort out in English.

"It's important to be bilingual. I think it's horrible to say, but his language skills are not good enough," said Lana Stermac, a party observer from Toronto.

Others disagreed.

"It didn't hurt Chr?tien," said delegate Garry Johnson, noting that former prime minister Jean Chr?tien, also a Quebec native, served for 10 years and spoke heavily accented English.

"If they keep sending our boys back in body bags from Afghanistan, that is what will do Harper in," he added.

The Afghanistan issue is a tricky one for Liberals, however. A Liberal Paul Martin government committed Canadian troops to Afghanistan. Harper expanded the mission and engineered a Parliament vote in May to keep the troops there until at least 2009. Many Liberal Parliament members voted for the extension.

Harper, described at the convention as a Canadian version of President Bush, has focused on a narrow agenda of conservative social and fiscal goals, and has cut programs that fall outside of that list. As head of a minority government, he has said he will call an election to try to win a majority. Political experts predict that an election called by Harper or forced by the opposition will come next year, possibly early in the year.

Blair: We have 10-15 years to stop climate change.

Blair calls for tough action on climate change but is exposed by an ever increasing credibility gap. The govornment is commited to 60% cuts by 2050 but even with broad cross-party support for setting yearly targets to ensure we are on a path the govornment seems resistant. All lib-dems, many tories and many labout mps have suported this (400 of the 630mps) so where is the resistance, and the urgency?

From the BBC News Website:

Tony Blair will later press for urgent action on global warming at a summit of EU leaders in southern Finland.

The meeting will focus on securing stable energy supplies - something Mr Blair will argue is closely linked to climate change.

In a letter published ahead of the summit, the prime minister said Europe must lead the world in changing to a low-carbon economy.

He said the world faced a "catastrophic tipping point" over climate change.

The letter, which was also signed by Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende, warned that failure to act would affect economic growth and long-term energy supply and would cause conflict and insecurity.

"We have a window of only 10 to 15 years to take the steps we need to avoid crossing catastrophic tipping points"

Joint letter

Energy is top of the agenda for the summit, where the EU leaders will be joined for dinner by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They hope to negotiate better deals for oil and gas companies operating in Russia and better access to the Russian pipeline network.

Mr Blair says it is right to focus on external energy policy but the pace of climate change means the two are linked.

"We have a window of only 10 to 15 years to take the steps we
need to avoid crossing catastrophic tipping points,"

the letter warns.

"These would have serious consequences for our economic growth prospects, the safety of our people and the supply of resources, most notably energy."

Debate

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday that climate change was the most pressing problem for political leaders.

And a plan to cut Europe's energy consumption by 20% before 2020 has been outlined by the European Commission.

No new decisions will come out of the Lahti meeting, but Mr Blair wants an "in-depth debate" at another summit next year.

He also wants progressively tighter limits to be put on total CO2 emissions from industry, and an agreement to invest more in renewable energy technology.

Greenpeace's John Sauven said Mr Blair's record on the climate issue was hypocritical.

"He finally grasps that we don't have long to stop catastrophic climate change but in his decade in power CO2 emissions have gone up in Britain,"

the campaigner said.

"He says he wants to strengthen the European emissions trading scheme, but last year he was suing Brussels to weaken it. He's done nothing to combat aviation or the trend for gas-guzzling cars."

David Cameron announces green transport plans.

Guardian Unlimited
David Cameron visited a Surrey airfield to test-drive low-emission vehicles this afternoon as he announced a "radical agenda for greener cars" and said Conservative councils would make it easier for people to walk or cycle on short journeys.

The Conservative leader wants to cut the carbon emitted by the average car from 170g a kilometre now to 100g for new cars by 2022 and for all cars by 2030.

"As I saw for myself in the Arctic, the problem is truly global in scale," Mr Cameron said today. "But the solutions are often local. In Oslo, I saw one part of the solution. In fact I not only saw it, I drove it - a Greenpeace car made from recycled plastic, with an electric engine."

Mr Cameron has already announced his intention to switch his government car from a Vauxhall Omega (276g) to a hybrid Lexus (186g). The much cheaper Toyota Prius (104g) also on offer was deemed too small for Mr Cameron's official entourage, though critics pointed out yesterday that the Prince of Wales drives one.

"He talks the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk," the transport secretary, Alistair Darling, said yesterday, accusing Mr Cameron of preferring "legroom over the environment".

"It still produces too much carbon, but it's a move in the right direction," the Conservative leader said today. "To help tackle climate change, we must be for greener cars, not anti-car. Today, many families want to become greener, and they're looking for more options to go green. We should help them."

The Tory leader said he would launch a new initiative to improve urban public transport later this week. He added that Conservative councils were "determined to make streets and public spaces safer and greener" and make it easier for people to walk and cycle. "We walk less than almost any other Western country bar Greece," he said. "And our cycling rate is 40% below the EU average."

Transport accounts for just over one-quarter of the UK's carbon emissions, a figure that is forecast to rise by one-third over the next generation unless cars become less polluting. Hybrid cars reduce carbon emissions by switching from petrol to electric power when it is more efficient. Only a few small cars currently emit less than 100g a kilometre, but Tory strategists said technological innovation made the party's goal "challenging but efficient".

Mr Cameron said a Conservative government would offer "significant incentives" to buyers of low-emission cars and manufacturers researching hybrids, biofuels and new generation diesel. "I want Britain to be at the forefront of international efforts to build a new generation of motor vehicles that are much less environmentally damaging," he said.

Hybrid cars are already exempt from the London congestion charge. Discounted road tax and parking or exemptions from tolls and other road charges could be used to persuade motorists to switch. But Mr Cameron did not say whether he would increase excise duty for polluting vehicles and added that a road-building programme was still necessary because "some extra road capacity" was needed.

A spokesman for Greenpeace welcomed Mr Cameron's announcement. "It's quite clear that he's seizing the agenda from the government," said Simon Reddy. "It's excellent that he's speaking out."

However, Mr Reddy said Greenpeace wanted to see mandatory targets for manufacturers rather than merely incentives to produce greener cars. The Conservatives should also tax airline fuel and passengers to reduce emissions from aviation, he said. Mr Cameron has refused to say whether he supports a "green" tax on aviation.

Last week, the Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who promised to give up his 20-year-old Jaguar during the leadership campaign, said he had put it up for sale and would be travelling by Underground to some of his local election appointments.

More on the tories and climate change here.

David Cameron Goes for Green Vote

LONDON - In a bid to boost his "green" credentials, Conservative leader David Cameron pledged on Friday to scrap the tax on British industry's use of energy and replace it with a more efficient system.

Cameron, who has made the environment a priority since he took over last December, said he would drop the Climate Change Levy in favour of a tariff which focuses on carbon emissions rather than energy use.

The 39-year-old was speaking in Norway, where he has travelled to witness first-hand the effects of global warming. Critics have called the trip a stunt and nothing more than an expensive photo opportunity.

"Tackling climate change is a key part of my ambition for the Conservative Party to lead a new green revolution," Cameron said.

"I want to recapture climate change from the pessimists. Of course it presents huge challenges. Of course the issues are complex. Of course it will require us to change.

"But when I think about climate change and our response to it, I don't think of doom and gloom, costs and sacrifice. I think of a cleaner, greener world for our children to enjoy and inherit."

Cameron added that his party must not be afraid of using the tax system and market mechanisms to encourage clean new technologies.

The Conservative party has always objected to the Climate Change Levy since it was introduced in 2001, prompting the Labour party to say their opponents were not ready to make the difficult decisions about how to safeguard the environment.

"It is not enough to draft a speech on the back of a fag packet on a dog-sleigh to Norway," the Guardian newspaper quoted a source from Chancellor Gordon Brown's circle as saying.

Cameron, who became the Conservatives' fifth leader in eight years following three election defeats to the Labour party, has focused on issues such as the environment rather than traditional Tory issues like crime and immigration in a bid to change the party's image.

But critics argue that after four months in the job, his announcements are still thin on detail.

There is a review of recent tory posturing on climate change here.

David Cameron outlines carbon tax plan

This is quite interesting for us in the UK. Our govornment have performed fairly miserably in terms of serious climate policies at the domestic level, despite strong words internationally. The conservatives, traditionally the right wing, free market foes of environmentalists have picked up on climate change in a big way, progress looks like the only way now. Lets hope something comes of this bipartisan agreement on the necessity of action.
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The tax system could be used to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour, David Cameron has said.

In a key note speech on global warming, made during a visit to Norway, the Conservative leader also spelled out his plans for an alternative to the climate change levy.

He called for both local initiatives and action on a global scale in order to prevent climate change having a major impact on the planet.

And he said that the time has come for "a new green revolution".
"Tackling climate change will require genuinely fresh thinking," Cameron argued.
"We must not be afraid of using the tax system and market mechanisms to encourage investment in, and take up of, clean new technologies which will transform the way we do business, create new markets, and reduce our impact on the planet.

"We must make sure that the various methods we use amount to a coherent whole, ensuring the carbon is priced effectively.


"It isn't the job of government to pick technologies. It isn't the job of government to tell people how to live their lives.

"It is the job of government to set a rational framework within which producers and consumers recognise the environmental cost of carbon because it comes home to them as an actual money-cost."

He said that a system of 'carbon pricing' covering the entire British economy is one policy option to be looked at by Conservative policy task forces.
The Tory chief pledged that "the overall effect of the framework" will be fiscally neutral.

"Activities which produce more carbon emission will cost more, those that produce fewer emissions will cost less. And the net effect will be neutral,"
he said.

He renewed calls for the government's climate change levy to be scrapped.

"The climate change levy is a tax on energy consumed by business,"

he said.
"It fails to make sufficient distinction between energy produced from low carbon sources and energy produced from high carbon sources.

"The climate change levy should therefore be replaced by a carbon levy which better distinguishes between high and low carbon production of energy, and which retains fiscal neutrality.

"I have asked our quality of life policy group and those involved in our energy review to recommend what form the new carbon levy should take, as part of a package of measures to price carbon and to deliver lower carbon emissions across the economy.

"In particular, I have asked the group to consider whether the carbon levy should operate as a business tax (like the climate change levy) or as a market mechanism, in which low carbon energy production and business use is encouraged through tradeable credits."
Cameron added:

"Tackling climate change is a key part of my ambition for the Conservative Party to lead a new green revolution.

"I want to recapture climate change from the pessimists. Of course it presents huge challenges. Of course the issues are complex. Of course it will require us to change.

"But when I think about climate change and our response to it, I don’t think of doom and gloom, costs and sacrifice.

"I think of a cleaner, greener world for our children to enjoy and inherit.
"I think of the almost unlimited power of innovation, the new technologies, the new products and services, and the progress they can bring for our planet and all mankind.
"And I think of the exciting possibilities that may seem a distant dream today - changing the way we live to improve our quality of life.
"We've all got to get positive about climate change."

Prince Albert of Monaco Takes Pole Position Against Global Warming

(Newswire Today) — Guildford United Kingdom, 2006-03-11 - Less than a year after succeeding to the throne, Prince Albert of Monaco is swapping the luxury of his palace for the wilds of the North Pole to highlight global warming.


More used to Grand Prix cars than dog sleighs, Monaco’s Prince Albert’s forthcoming trek to the North Pole has been greeted with surprise by many.

But the Prince is fairly accustomed to the cold, in contrast to the Mediterranean warmth of Monaco where he became ruler last July following the passing of his father Prince Rainier, who had ruled the tax haven for over 50 years.

Albert represented Monaco at the last five Winter Olympic Games in their Bobsleigh team. And he is going to face some cold and hostile conditions on his seven day trip to bring to the attention of fellow world leaders the environmental damage to the arctic regions that global warming is having.

Speaking at a recent news conference in Monaco, Albert explained his thinking behind the trip to assembled journalists.

‘If in our modest way, by this action we are able to bring environmental problems to the forefront and force some leaders to take stronger actions, this expedition will have achieved its objectives’.

Environmentalists have welcomed Albert’s expedition, and his image in the world’s media is changing from that of a playboy millionaire to a responsible leader.

In 2002 47 year old Prince Albert agreed to a DNA test to show whether he was the father to a boy born to a former air hostess he had had a relationship with, and more recently has been linked by the press with 28 year old South African swimming champion Charlene Wittstock.

But one of the first actions he took after succeeding to the throne was to sign the Kyoto Protocol, taking Monaco outside of the small group of countries that had failed to ratify the treaty, designed to reduce the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases.

Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco Prince Albert inherited from his father is now the world’s best known tax haven, and the ultimate European destination for luxury hotels, including the Hotel de Paris, frequently quoted in guides as among the top ten in the world.

One local on-line travel guide comment that Prince Albert’s interest in the world’s environment sets a different agenda than that of his father, who transformed the principality in his reign into an economically safe country for the world’s wealthy to live and invest.

Residents of the principality enjoy a zero rated income tax.

As well as being a tax haven, Monaco hosts the best known Formula 1 Grand Prix of the year around the streets of Monte Carlo and Fontvieille in May. Over recent years Monaco has also become a destination of choice for the super-rich in September, when it hosts the Monaco Yacht Show.

And while the Grand Prix and Yacht Show fill the hotels in Monte Carlo and Monaco each year, and on an everyday basis every second car seems to be an Aston Martin or Ferrari, locals hope that Prince Albert doesn’t look too close to home when it comes to his concern for the environment. Cancelling the Monaco Grand Prix in 2007 to show his concern for the environment would certainly grab world headlines, but might not be a popular decision among his subjects.

Locals feel that there is little danger of this though – Albert is after all the son of Hollywood star Grace Kelly, and future media appearances could just as well be in celebrity magazines as environmental campaign ones.