Car exhaust

Greenpeace today took a message about the real cost of fuel to lorry drivers protesting in Edinburgh about fuel prices by sending vans emblazoned with 'GLOBAL WARMING KILLS - KEEP THE FUEL TAX' to join the convoy.

According to the World Health Organisation, 160,000 people are already dying every year as a result of floods, droughts, storms and disease caused by climate change. If our dependence on oil is not reduced the figures are set to increase dramatically.

Rob Gueterbock, Greenpeace climate campaigner, said:

"These lorry drivers are wrong to call for the government to cut the tax. Global warming is the biggest threat to mankind and is already killing tens of thousands of people every year and devastating the lives of millions of others. The financial cost will run into billions. We need fuel taxes as a vital part of the fight against global warming.

Fuel tax is fair, because the polluter pays
"Cheaper fuel means we use more fuel. Overall the real cost of motoring is the same as it was 20 years ago. The government needs to send us all a signal that fuel is going to get more expensive over the next decade or so. Only then will people cut down on their car use, manufacturers mass produce green cars, oil companies sell us green fuels and policy makers sort out public transport.

"Fuel tax is actually a fair tax because the polluter pays. It taxes everyone who uses it by the amount they use it. A quarter of all families in Britain don't even have a car. What they need is access to good public transport.

"Blair and Brown say they care about global warming and the world's poorest people. If that's true they must stand firm and implement the duty increase as planned."

Since the last fuel protests, hauliers have already benefited from a halving of vehicle excise duty and duty on diesel has been reduced by 13% in real terms. There are also substantial incentives to convert lorries to run on alternative fuels.

Greenpeace is calling on the Government to send a clear signal that the price of oil-based petrol and diesel will increase steadily, and to make plant-based biodiesels and road fuel gas much more widely available on the forecourts. Any existing diesel engine can run on biodiesel without modification, and most vehicles can be converted to run on road fuel gases. The group is also calling on the road haulage industry to lead the way to the future hydrogen economy. Within 10 years our road haulage fleet could and should be running on hydrogen.

Further Information
For more information contact:
Greenpeace Press office on 020 7865 8255 or 07717 704577

Fuel protest rally

Greenpeace campaigner Rob Gueterbock addressed the truckers rally in Hyde Park today and told the protestors that they were wrong to argue for lower taxes on dirty petrol and diesel but right to support new green alternative fuels.

Speaking at the event, Rob Gueterbock said:
"I have been travelling with the fuel protest convoy for the past five days and spent a lot of time discussing the issues with truckers and farmers. At the end of the day, and despite some very positive discussions, Greenpeace fundamentally disagrees with the protestors' demands to lower tax on dirty petrol and diesel. If the tax goes down there will be an increased impact on the climate and that means more floods and freak storms."

He continued: "However, even though we disagree about the tax on dirty fuels, we do have common ground when it comes to promoting alternative green fuels. Greenpeace calls on all the fuel protestors here today to stop campaigning for cheaper dirty petrol and diesel and start campaigning for alternative green fuels which cost less money. Greenpeace and the RAC Foundation are already campaigning for a Green Fuel Fund which will create half a billion pounds of funding for the research, development and promotion of green fuels - we want you to back that campaign."

A team of Greenpeace volunteers travelling in an articulated lorry powered by bio-diesel has been travelling with the fuel convoy for the past five days to argue the case for the environment and to show examples of green fuel in action. Yesterday Greenpeace gave away five thousand litres of bio-diesel to motorists in central London as part of the campaign to get Government support for cheap green fuels.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255

On the road with the convoy:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Car exhaust

Greenpeace today condemned Gordon Brown for buckling to pressure and cutting diesel taxes by 3 pence.

Greenpeace Policy Director, Stephen Tindale said,
"Low sulphur fuels are not green fuels. They are still oil and do nothing to combat climate change. Gordon Brown dressed this up as an environmental measure but he said himself that 100% of the diesel sold in the UK is already low sulphur. So this is a straightforward tax cut.

Cheaper fuel will mean more floods. Brown has done nothing to speed up the shift away from oil. There are non oil-fuels available that cut pollution dramatically.

The Chancellor should set up a green fuel fund to promote and develop the use of gas, bio-diesel, electricity and hydrogen, as called for by Greenpeace and the RAC Foundation."

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace Press Office as 020 7865 8255/6/7/8 or Stephen Tindale on 07946 358454

Traffic jam

A new opinion poll released at the Greenpeace Business Conference reveals that the public is willing to pay the current fuel tax so long as a proportion of it is guaranteed to be spent on the environment. A survey by NOP shows that 68% of respondents would be happier paying the current tax if some of it was spent on 'reducing pollution...by investing in public transport and developing green fuels'. The same proportion said that they would prefer to pay the current fuel tax with a guaranteed 3 pence going to the environment rather than accept the 3 pence reduction in fuel duty offered by the Conservative Party.

The survey showed that when people are simply asked about the level of fuel tax, a majority (82%) still think that the current fuel duty is too high. The survey also reveals that the public does not believe high fuel prices discourage gas-guzzling behaviour despite academic research to the contrary. Only 39% of respondents believed cheaper fuel would lead to people driving more and only 37% believed it would encourage people to buy larger, less fuel efficient cars. However, when asked about the tax and the way revenues are spent, people are prepared to support the use of fuel duties to protect the environment.

Commenting on the survey, Stephen Tindale, Policy Director with Greenpeace in the UK, said: "These results support everything we have been saying about the fuel crisis. The public does not want a lower fuel tax because they don't care about the environment - quite the reverse. In fact people would be happy to pay the current fuel tax if they could be sure the money was being spent on public transport and alternative fuels. People simply don't believe that higher taxes curb fuel consumption and they don't believe that revenues from the tax are being spent on the environment. This survey sends a clear message to Government that they will only win public acceptance for the current fuel duty if they really do spend some of it on providing alternatives to oil." Greenpeace has also launched a call for the Government to establish a Green Fuel Fund from the revenues they receive from oil. One pence per litre of the fuel tax or a third of a penny on oil produced in UK waters would create a £00 million fund which would enable green electricity from wind, wave and solar power to become established industries in the UK and allow hydrogenand biofuels to become widely available as alternatives to oil for transport.

Notes for Editors:
1) Survey Results (NOP telephone survey conducted for Greenpeace between 29th September - 1st October of 991 adults aged 17+.

Do you yourself believe that at 57% the fuel tax is too high or do you think it is justified at this level?
Fuel tax too high 82%
The current level of fuel tax is justified 16%
Don't Know 3%

Do you agree that if fuel tax was lower, and as a result the price of fuel was reduced, people would drive more?
Agree 39%
Disagree 59%
Don't know 2%

Do you agree that if fuel tax was lower, and as a result the price of fuel was reduced, people would be more likely to buy larger, less fuel efficient cars?
Agree 37%
Disagree 59%
Don't know 4%

Some people have said that they would be happier paying the current rate of fuel tax if some of the money was spent on reducing pollution, for example by investing more in public transport and by developing green fuels. Do you agree or disagree with this view?
Agree, would be happier 68%
Disagree, makes no difference 28%
Don't know 3%

Some environment groups are proposing that a few pence of the fuel tax should be invested in public transport and in developing cleaner engines that don't need petrol or diesel but run on green fuel. Given the choice, which of the following two options would you choose?
A 3p per litre cut in fuel tax and no extra investment in protecting the environment 27%
No cut in fuel tax and the 3p being spent on protecting the environment 68%
Don't know 5%

2) New research published by Imperial College researchers on 29th September this year shows that increasing petrol prices reduces fuel consumption, but rising incomes and falls in other motoring costs are presently increasing the demand for petrol and the amount of traffic on UK roads.

The study, carried out by Professor Stephen Glaister and Dr Dan Graham of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Imperial, and published by the Automobile Association, reviews research on the response of motorists to fuel price changes.

The main findings of the report were:
The immediate effect of a 10 per cent increase in the price of fuel, holding everything else constant, will be a 2.5 per cent decline in consumption. As consumers have more time to adjust to price changes the impact of a 10% price change will be much larger - being associated with a decline in the consumption of fuel of 7 per cent, with all other effects held constant. This difference in response to price in the short and long run can be explained by the introduction of more fuel-efficient vehicles, changes in trips made, and greater use of other modes of transport. Increases in fuel price have been accompanied by reductions in other motoring costs, particularly car purchase. Relative to household income the cost of owning and operating a car is now 30 per cent lower than it was in the early 1960s.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255

Greenpeace challenges fuel blockaders and argues the case for maintaining current levels of fuel tax

Greenpeace announced that it will challenge fuel blockaders if they attempt to picket oil refineries in November at the end of the sixty day deadline. Greenpeace intends to send teams of people to each blockaded venue to argue the case for maintaining the current level of fuel duty. Greenpeace also launched a call for the Government to establish a Green Fuel Fund from a small percentage of the revenues they receive from oil.

Speaking in the presence of Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, at the Greenpeace Business Conference, Stephen Tindale, Policy Director of Greenpeace UK, said: "The Government have been running away from the real justification for a fuel tax - to stop climate change and improve air quality. Greenpeace is not afraid to make the case for high petrol prices and we will go out to the fuel protests and put it directly to truckers and farmers if they return to the refineries."

One pence per litre of the fuel tax or a third of a penny on oil produced in UK waters would create a £00 million fund which would enable green electricity from wind, wave and solar power to become established industries in the UK and allow hydrogen and biofuels to become widely available as alternatives to oil for transport.

Commenting on the proposal, Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace in the UK, said:
"The UK is as dependent on climate-damaging fossil fuels in the year 2000 as it was at the time of the last oil crisis thirty years ago. The Government could turn the fuel protests into an asset if they responded by directing a small fraction of oil revenues towards alternatives like hydrogen fuel cells, biofuels and clean power from the sun, the wind and the waves. This is an historic opportunity to break our addiction to fossil fuels, massively improve the quality of our lives and generate a new high tech industry for Britain."

Notes for Editors:
1. An NOP opinion poll released today (5/10/00) at the Greenpeace Business Conference reveals that the public is willing to pay the current fuel tax so long as a proportion of it is guaranteed to be spent on the environment. A survey by NOP shows that 68% of respondents would be happier paying thecurrent tax if some of it was spent on 'reducing pollution...by investing in public transport and developing green fuels'. The same proportion said thatthey would prefer to pay the current fuel tax with a guaranteed 3 pence going to the environment rather than accept the 3 pence reduction in fuel duty offered by the Conservative Party.

The survey showed that when people are simply asked about the level of fuel tax, a majority (82%) still think that the current fuel duty is too high. The survey also reveals that the public does not believe high fuel prices discourage gas-guzzling behaviour. Only 39% of respondents believed cheaper fuel would lead to people driving more and only 37% believed it would encourage people to buy larger, less fuel efficient cars. However, when asked about the tax and the way revenues are spent, people are prepared to support the use of fuel duties to protect the environment. Full details of the poll are available in a Greenpeace news release

2. New research published by Imperial College researchers on 29th September this year shows that increasing petrol price reduces fuel consumption but rising incomes and falls in other motoring costs are presently increasing the demand for petrol and the amount of traffic on UK roads. The study, carried out by Professor Stephen Glaister and Dr Dan Graham of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Imperial, and published by the Automobile Association, reviews research on the response of motorists to fuel price changes.

The main findings of the report were:
The immediate effect of a 10 per cent increase in the price of fuel, holding everything else constant, will be a 2.5 per cent decline in consumption. As consumers have more time to adjust to price changes the impact of a 10%price change will be much larger - being associated with a decline in the consumption of fuel of 7 per cent, with all other effects held constant. This difference in response to price in the short and long run can be explained by the introduction of more fuel-efficient vehicles, changes in trips made, and greater use of other modes of transport. Increases in fuel price have been accompanied by reductions in other motoring costs, particularly car purchase. Relative to household income the cost of owning and operating a car is now 30 per cent lower than it was in the early 1960s.

Read results of the latest poll

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255 showing public backing for current fuel tax if revenue is spent on the environment

Mozambique floods: climate change is causing more extreme weather events

Commenting on the current controversy surrounding fuel taxation, Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace Policy Director, said:
"Greenpeace agrees with the Government - it is absolutely right not to reduce fuel taxes. Unless we break our addiction to fossil fuels, extreme weather events like the floods in Mozambique will massively increase and the Arctic ice sheet will vanish in forty years. The climate crisis gives us no choice but to reduce our use of petrol and diesel - in fact prices need to rise further in future.

The real question we should ask ourselves is why a quarter of a century after the first oil shock we are still in an oil-induced trance. A hydrogen economy, based on fuel-cells powered by renewable energy, is just around the corner. Instead of campaigning for lower fuel prices, haulage companies should be working with vehicle manufacturers and politicians to speed up this transition."

Further information:
Contact:
Press Office 020 7865 8255