U.K. annual parking fee penalizes gas guzzler owners

Suburban Londoners to pay emissions fees

LONDON (AP) - Residents of a suburban London district will soon pay annual parking fees based on how much carbon dioxide their cars emit, penalizing owners of gas guzzlers.

Richmond council west of the capital agreed on Monday to levy a sliding scale of charges based on emissions, meaning the biggest polluters will pay 300 pounds (almost C$700) a year for the privilege of parking outside their homes.

Do they not  realise that a parked car emits no emissions? Whether you own a Hummer or a Prius, they both emit the same level of pollutants when parked. Zero.

The best way to reduce emissions would be to encourage the owner of the Hummer to stay parked. Pushing him with a regressive tax to trade it off only results in someone else driving the Hummer. Now you have just doubled the number of emitting vehicles.

Secondly, you are penalizing the owners of large vehicles retroactively.  Parking fee increases were probably not a factor in the original purchase decision.

Eventually though, the amount of emission from either the Hummer or the Prius is entirely dependent on the number of miles each vehicle is driven. Every three miles on a Prius will be the same as one mile in a Hummer. We need to encourage the owner of the Hummer to keep it parked whenever possible.

When you understand this, you realize opportunistic politicians are only using Green-Guilt® to raise taxes.

Coming soon: You will have to justify your need for a specific vehicle to the local review committee before you can purchase. Thank you, komrade.

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