2 March 2011
Cutting fuel duty would deepen our dependence on oil
Transform Scotland, along with Friends of the Earth Scotland, Sustrans Scotland, and WWF Scotland, have published on the impact of a fuel price stabiliser on emissions and revenues to the Excheque. The briefing highlights findings from the recent Policy Studies Institute (PSI) report 'Road transport fuel prices, demand and tax revenues: impact of fuel duty escalator and price stabiliser' and the Green Alliance briefing 'Would a fuel duty stabiliser really be fair?'
The findings reveal that although the fuel price stabiliser would smooth out peaks and troughs in the price of petrol, that it would not tackle the long-term increase in the price of fuel.
Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland said:
"Cutting fuel duty would mean money from taxpayers being used to fix a problem that is beyond our control. With fuel prices due to continue their rise as oil becomes more scarce, the only useful response is to reduce society's dependence on fossil fuels. Cutting fuel taxes may be a superficially attractive short-term response but it would only deepen society's dependence on oil."