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MPs back personal carbon credits MPs back personal carbon credits
(about 6 hours later)
Ministers should go ahead with the idea of personal "carbon credits" to meet emissions targets, MPs have said.Ministers should go ahead with the idea of personal "carbon credits" to meet emissions targets, MPs have said.
The Environmental Audit Committee said the scheme would be more effective than taxes for cutting carbon emissions.The Environmental Audit Committee said the scheme would be more effective than taxes for cutting carbon emissions.
The committee's report criticised the government for shelving the proposal following a preliminary study.The committee's report criticised the government for shelving the proposal following a preliminary study.
Under the scheme people would be given an annual carbon limit for fuel and energy use - which they could exceed by buying credits from those who use less.Under the scheme people would be given an annual carbon limit for fuel and energy use - which they could exceed by buying credits from those who use less.
'No barrier''No barrier'
The MPs admitted the public were likely to be opposed to the move, but urged the government to be "courageous".The MPs admitted the public were likely to be opposed to the move, but urged the government to be "courageous".
Their report said: "Persuading the public depends on perceptions of the government's own commitment to reducing emissions, and of the priority given to climate change in it's own decision making."Their report said: "Persuading the public depends on perceptions of the government's own commitment to reducing emissions, and of the priority given to climate change in it's own decision making."
It added: "Further work is needed before personal carbon trading can be a viable policy option and this must be started urgently, and in earnest.It added: "Further work is needed before personal carbon trading can be a viable policy option and this must be started urgently, and in earnest.
"In the meantime there is no barrier to the government developing and deploying the policies that will not only prepare the ground for personal carbon trading, but will ensure its effectiveness and acceptance once implemented.""In the meantime there is no barrier to the government developing and deploying the policies that will not only prepare the ground for personal carbon trading, but will ensure its effectiveness and acceptance once implemented."
'Radical idea''Radical idea'
Committee chairman Tim Yeo said it found that personal carbon trading had "real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way".Committee chairman Tim Yeo said it found that personal carbon trading had "real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way".
"The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. It is important to meet these challenges," he said. He said "green" taxes, such as a petrol tax, cost poor people more because everyone - "billionaires and paupers" - paid the same amount.
"Under the personal carbon trading, someone who perhaps doesn't have an enormous house or swimming pool, someone who doesn't take several holidays in the Caribbean every year, will actually get a cash benefit if they keep a low carbon footprint."
He said it could be administered by the private sector, following the model of supermarket loyalty schemes in which a complex computer system is accessed by a "single plastic card".
Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said work on personal carbon trading had not been completely abandoned.Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said work on personal carbon trading had not been completely abandoned.
"We have simply decided not to undertake further work paid for by the taxpayer when a number of other studies are under way," she said."We have simply decided not to undertake further work paid for by the taxpayer when a number of other studies are under way," she said.