'Green Tax Switch essential for real environmental change' say Lib Dems

4.52.56pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 22nd Oct 2006

Steve Sollitt, Liberal Democrat Campaigner for Southampton Test has backed his party's Green Tax Switch campaign. Steve said 'We must all play our part in tackling climate change'

"The heart of our message on the environment is the need to switch taxation to green taxes on to things like pollution and carbon emissions. The principle is that the more you choose to switch to a greener living the more you save. We must stop taxing good things like work and move taxation to bad things like environmental damage".

Among the Lib Dem policy proposal announced are:

· Replacing Aircraft Passenger duty with an aircraft based on the emissions of each aircraft

· More steeply graduating vehicle excise duty for new vehicles based on carbon emissions

· Indexing the current climate change levy and replacing it long term with a carbon tax

· Indexing fuel duty to inflation.

· New regulations for water management to reduce wastage through leaks

· New measures to grow capacity for renewable energy production and opposition to new nuclear power stations

· Incentives for energy conservation

Steve added "These policies place a burden on us all to change our behaviour to help the environment - we can no longer afford to let climate change go unchecked".

More information is available from

http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/greentaxswitch