UK Government Petition to lower fuel prices

[Martin Naef]

Paul,

paul.maddox.mail-list at synth.net wrote:
>> Supposing this was true, it's still not a good idea to pollute our
>> ecosystem by burning all the fossil fuels.
> 
> You'd better stop using all the power in your house then.

You're turning this into a black-and-white issue. First of all, 
different forms and uses of energy are taxed at different rates. I don't 
know the UK system well enough, but the oil used to heat houses in 
Switzerland is a lot cheaper than the diesel sold at the petrol station, 
even though it's the same thing. Again, agriculture gets the diesel for 
their machines at another, different rate.

It's a way of steering things: Driving with your own car is essentially 
a luxury with significant bad side effects, whereas heating your house 
is a necessity - hence the different taxation. Although, a lot of 
British houses could be made more energy efficient, the incentive for 
which again increases with high energy prices.

Now if you ask the government to reduce taxation on petrol to offset the 
recent hike caused by speculation, you're a) supporting a non-efficient 
use of resources, b) make the oil companies even happier because people 
keep buying their overpriced product at the same rate, and c) don't even 
attack the source of the price hike which is market speculation and a 
monopolistic behaviour of the providers.

> So, if you're happy for the cost petrol to increase, you should also be
> prepaired to pay extra for *everything* you don't grow/make yourself.

Yes, but you pay a lot more extra for those things that rely heavily on 
petrol, whereas other, more "eco-friendly" products don't get the same 
hit. And if the price increased is caused by taxation, the money coming 
in can be used to reduce other taxes.

Bye
Martin

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