Treasury likened to 'arthritic sloth' on environmental taxes

摘要

The Treasury has come under fire for dilatoriness on environmental taxation during an inquiry by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. Energy efficiency interests have accused it of offering "warm words" but little else, and it has also struggled to defend the climate change impacts of the planned expansion of aviation. The Committee is holding an inquiry into the pre-Budget report, which offered little new on green taxation (ENDS Report 347, pp 26-28). Committee chairman Peter Ainsworth set the tone with his opening remarks to Economic Secretary John Healey on 21 January. The Committee wanted to help the Government meet its own targets, he said, but there was now "quite a large number of areas, including aviation, energy efficiency and overall tax strategy, where we fear at the moment that the Government is not meeting its targets or not trying very hard to."