Government must clean up road emissions even if it means less tax
URGENT ACTION is needed to tackle both greenhouse gases and air pollution from road transport – but it could leave a multi-billion-pound hole in annual tax receipts, a report warns.
While other areas of the economy have managed to reduce carbon dioxide output, road transport emissions have increased by one per cent since 1990, while London and 74 other cities and areas have illegal levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution.
Ministers need to develop a new cross-departmental strategy on road transport to deliver emissions cuts required by UK climate laws and to address air pollution, much of which comes from diesel, the report from think-tank Policy Exchange said.
Options include new technology such as electric or hydrogen vehicles, making conventional vehicles more efficient and encouraging people to take public transport.
But the Government also needs to recognise the financial implications of cleaning up road transport, as reductions in fossil fuel use to power cars, vans and lorries would see fuel duty and road tax payments fall.
The report also recommends that motorists who bought diesel vehicles in good faith – when they were being promoted as a more efficient, cleaner alternative to petrol to tackle carbon – should not be penalised.
And electric vehicle infrastructure needs to be “smart” and able to control charging to minimise the impact it could have on the power system, the report recommends.
Richard Howard, Policy Exchange’s head of energy and environment and lead author of the report, said: “The new Government needs to take more assertive action to address the twin problems of carbon emissions and air pollution from road use.
“As it stands, there is no overarching Government strategy to deliver the required reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and the latest plan to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions is inadequate.”