Green Taxes, Our Saviour or Just Another Tax?

Hi,

Bob here...


Last Saturday's weather consisted of very high winds and yet, those leaves are hanging on tenaciously to their lofty heights among the trees in my garden. I wouldn't really mind so much, but I'm eager to clear away the relics of this year's bumper crop of flowers, so that I can complete some projects I've already started. Well, I expect that by the time the final week of this month comes around, those leaves will be a thing of the past.

This week I'm going to be giving my ever so humble view of, among other things, green taxes and the link to global warming.

Taxes are never the answer to any of our problems, more so when it concerns global warming. The people of the UK have never been taxed as much as they are today. To create a green tax, and you can label them any way that you want to, ultimately it's still a tax, it will be one that will ultimately be highly unpopular and a vote loser.

Global warming is an issue that doesn't only involve those who live in the UK, but one that involves each and every country in the world. This means that it needs to be tackled globally, and in a manner that doesn't involve raising yet more money that will surely go to waste and do absolutely nothing to rid ourselves of global warming.

Remember, global warming didn't happen over night. It has been the result of human greed, selfishness and downright neglect. When people began clearing those rain forests, they destroyed the means of reducing CO² and the ability to produce oxygen. Although I've said rain forests, this also applies to woodland clearance everywhere. You cannot wipe out thousands of hectares of trees and not accept the consequences of our actions.

We live in a vast consumer driven age, an age where just about everything we buy is wrapped up in a conglomerate of totally useless materials, rubbish destined for the tips that in most cases cannot be recycled. Who is to blame for this? The manufacturers are of course, and they must start to take the responsibility and blame for the billions of tons of harmful waste they produce. They simply cannot keep on passing the buck onto us, the consumer. And further more, neither can the government. To them I say, stop blaming the people for your own mistakes regarding climate change.

Even when we've bought the latest car, PC, television, DVD recorder, etc, etc, etc, each and ever single item has only a finite life span, and yet little is ever thought about the disposal of these things at their life's end. The worse thing, it's that these items rarely last as long as we frequently expect them to. Is this not primarily the fault of the manufacturer? But who gets the blame when these things have to be thrown away? We do, and every time!!! Maybe it's about time that we make what we buy last until it drops dead on us, and ignore those glorified adverts that forever entice us to buy, buy, BUY!!?

Now we learn that Blair wants more nuclear power stations, and yet, we still haven't found an entirely safe means to dispose of the highly toxic waste it produces. The greenest and most obvious way to go, is through solar, wind and wave power. Of course, these things alone will not reduce the greenhouse effect. But if we combined these with planting deciduous trees on a vast scale, instead of hacking them down at every opportunity, along reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, then, and only then, can we can expect to see a significant difference in the quality of our atmosphere. Even so, industry has to stop polluting as much as it does, otherwise, all the work we do will simply go to waste. Our government has to make some harsh decisions, so, go to it.

Now, we are also told by Mr Blair, that we must do something to halt the progress of global warming. Does this mean that everyone will stop driving wherever they go? Does this mean that all those houses that are lit up like Christmas trees, inside and out, will suddenly see the light and use only the lighting they truly need? Will it also mean that everyone will compost their waste, collect their newsprint, bottles, jars and cans for recycling? Will those that make use of cheap flights, suddenly reduce the number of trips they make? Will council planners begin allowing all those who want them, to erect wind turbines on their homes, thus truly reducing CO² emissions and saving on the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity?

If your answer is 'Yes' to any of those questions, then you obviously don't live in the real world. Why? Because none of this is going to happen, that's why. It will take a whole lot more than the threat of global warming to make our government, or any others for that matter, take any real action, except to no doubt tax us all, which is a cop-out. They need to physically get off their backsides and do something constructive and not worry about losing a few votes. If you think otherwise, then I suggest that you keep this message in a folder somewhere. It will serve to remind you that once again, ''I told you so!''

As always around about now, it's time for me to be getting inside.

So, I hope to see you all in the garden next time, bye for now!

Bob (For Froggy)