Before the road tax becomes more than equal to the second hand value of our prized possesions?
I figure that if road tax were imposed at punitive levels retrospectively (and I don't suppose that there won't be a nasty hike on larger engine vintage models either) that the second hand value of much metal will drop drastically to the point where it becomes a toxic hazard as scrap as the beasts are abandoned in the fields.
That is not going to achieve anything, for what does China care once they own landrover and happily churning them out for the home market.
Any hikes probably won't be applied to older cars, just new ones, that's the usual way of it, hopefully at least we'll escape that way. Having four cars while driving less than average I'd hate to see tax rise even more.
I noticed that one of the "carbon neutralising" schemes has come a tad unstuck;
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Basically the G8 summit last year was supposed to be "carbon neutral" by the UK government spending £50,000 on low-energy lightbulbs for an African township (eh?) but the money has to be spent on beaurocracy including hiring an auditor who's job is to count the lightbulbs that they now can't afford to buy.
Why don't they just sack him? if a light bulb costs £2 then that's 25,000 light bulbs, even I can work that out. If they gave us a grant towards a compressor and heater for the exhaust we could spit diamonds out into the gutter, they would like us then. ;-)
What I find most depressing is the selection of 4 x 4 owners interviewed on TV. All they seem to say is "I've worked for this so I deserve it", not "this vehicle is the best tool I've got to help save the planet, It'll do everything I need, carry everything I need to wherever I need it".
There's a need for an active lobby to stress what creative, competent people and tools can achieve, and to try to grind down the endless wafflings of the unproductive list makers (failed because they can't do IT either) that we have allowed to form into what we stupidly call "The Political Class".
I think I'm quite green. I built a sailing boat from a pile of wood and some plans and could live quite happily in its cabin if I needed to. I took an old broken down lathe and used it to make parts for itself to bring it up to scratch. Same with a milling machine. My shed is full of all sorts of crap that might one day help in some rebuilding process. Same with the garage. The 110 only does a few hundred miles a year, but what it does is invaluable in load carrying and towing terms. If it has a terminal chassis rust problem, it will, I'm sure, come into its own as a donor vehicle and be well recycled. The people promoting battery cars seem to be the very people who should be walking anyway. A car that only has a range of 40 miles (when new presumably), that can't carry anything, that presumably has no heater and probably goes half the distance with the headlights on? Gee whiz, I can hardly wait. I walk to the shops, but sometimes have to take the car because SWMBO has a trolley full of food bought for when the family all come home. They all walked to school when the were young and later got the bus. I can't afford to have a holiday, so I don't fly.
I'm green. It's these useless people who talk or push paper for a living who are the parasites. It's about time the do'ers shouted back at the talkers.
Last night I watched Newsnight on BBC2. Some man with suspiciously black hair called Milliband, I think, said that everyone would have to learn that every time they emit carbon dioxide they will have to pay. I think he should be the first to try out a face-mounted CO2 meter. Maybe I should assemble a prototype now?
I bothers me that a bloke who lives in house for 9 years and brags that he has 'just' put energy saving bulbs in, ignores scientists for 9 years employs an economist ( see wikipedia under smoke and mirrors) formerly the head of an organisation which in the cause of world peace propped up dictatorships and oppresive regimes, in order to give him an excuse to increase taxes for our own good. I can make a positive suggestion which will save several billion tons of CO2 emmisions used in trancontinental commuting sack all those buggers at the EU in brussels! then we can start on sacking the home grown parasites
Quite, I don't use my landie excessively probably contribute a lot less CO2 than anyone doing the average school run. I have been using energy saving lightbulbs for years because they last longer, and I walk to the shops most days because the excercise is good for me, I only use the landie when the weather is absolutely foul and I am stocking up with more than I can carry in my rucksack.
The vehicle is not full of synthetic plastics, does not waste energy on air conditioning and heating, and carries a damn sight more when I need it to than the average estate. Whats more I can live in the back of it in an emergency.
The annoying thing is that I am just one year the wrong side of tax exemption, so I still worry about creeping hikes on road tax.
"Larry" wrote in message news:ei892l$dl5$ snipped-for-privacy@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
OK I use my Disco every day for 99% of travelling, shopping etc. The reason is I am disabled. So why have I bought, and run a 'dirty' planet killing, kiddie crunching death machine? To start with I have had a hoist installed inside which lifts in my disabled scooter. That in turn just fits nicely inside leaving enough room for three adults and shopping. Next, again because of my illness comfort is very high on my list. Having driven the following, Zafira, Scenic, Caren and the Disco I found the later to be by far the most comfortable. It is also a damn site easier to steer than the Zafira & Scenic! Getting into and out of the Disco is very easy because I have usable side steps. When I drive to family 130 miles away I arrive with no extra aches or pains than normal. Finally I, and indeed anyone, should not have to explain anything to anyone as to why we chose this type of car. Oh yes I had a bull bar fitted not to look big and menacing but to protect my headlights from idiots who cannot parallel park! I do use the disabled scooter around town and as stated it goes with me everywhere if walking is called for. Taxing these cars extra is not going to do anything for the enviroment, only for the coffers. As I have said before, lets see the government and councilors who protest these cars to stop using the Jags, Rolls, Lexus, Mercs, Volvo's, MPV's etc. I want to save the planet but this growing idiocy has nothing to do with that.
That's a fair point - PR is all about "perceptions", and, as Harry Enfield and Monty Python so ably demonstrated, the "self-made man" is actualy percieved by the public as an object or riducule rather that respect, i.e.it won't go down well with the public. I know I see the shutters go down in a lot of people when I say I'm self-emplyed. Plus the L322 Range Rover being regarded as drug dealers vehicle of choice does't help!
How true - one thing the antis are very good at is making sure they all sing from the same hymn sheet. The Ramblers have done a remarkable job of convincing themseleves, and the media, that they are only defending their rights to do this or that, while completetly skating over the fact that they are trampling all over everyone elses rights, simply because they don't like some activity or other!
I think you may be being a bit harsh about electric cars. I don't have the numbers to hand but I seem to recall elecrtic cars (in the US, ironically) that have a range of 200+ miles. Mind you, that's an interesting comment about having the lights on!
I don't fly either, but that's down to devout cowardice!
I could be wrong, but form what I've seen on TV turing our thermostats down 2 degress would have a far greater effect on C02 emissions than tinkering with car tax - but then that would reduce the governments income (VAT), rather than increase it ;-)
Nothing personal - just observing that saying something along the lines of "I haven't had to replace my car/computer/washing machine et al for 10 years" is pushing the argument onto the anti's, "because I can" just backs up their prejudices (but is a perfectly good reason doing daft things like climding very big mountains, it seems).
On or around Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:55:32 GMT, "Cyberwraith" enlightened us thusly:
The gist of the thing is not that the level of global warming is unusual or unprecedented, but that it's happened in what in geological terms is a split second. The normal sort of climate changes take many hundreds or thousands of years, although significant events such as Krakatoa or Mt St. Helens can have a measurable effect.
The comment about grape vines, for example: The Romans were growing vines about 2000 years ago, the Thames was known to freeze a few hundred years ago. There's a certain amount of evidence that we are in fact in a minor ice age, bar for the effects of man.
however, it's nowhere near as clear-cut as everyone thinks. For example: global warming results in more water vapour in the atmosphere (and water vapour is a good greenhouse gas); but! water vapour in the atmosphere leads to more clouds, which lowers the albedo.
And so on. It's all a very big interlinked system, wherein small (in global terms) changes can have far-reaching and (partly) unpredictable effects. There's a good chance that we've already altered the climate beyond a critical no-return point: large areas of Tundra are about to melt, which will release large amounts of greenhouse gases...
However, there's another aspect to this - the doom-and-gloom types predicting the end of life as we know it might have it right, but that doesn't necessarily imply the end of life on the planet. Things will change, animal populations will move, temperate crops that used to grow in one place will grow instead somewhere else and the places that used to grow those crops will grow tropical stuff. Large areas which have been too cold to grow anything much will become cultivable (the aforementioned tundra, for example). Some species will probably go under due to inability to react, and others will come along to replace them. One thing it will be is interesting...
The way I see it is that the human race is going to reduce significantly in population, given that overpopulation leads to wars and famine, so things will balance out in a rather messy manner. If the weather changes significantly then it'll be a catalyst but unrestrained population growth is bound to lead to hacking and slashing. Eco-warriors who drop lots of sprogs always make me chortle.
Killing off life, or even human life, doesn't seem likely, far too flexible. Just a fairly sizeable reduction and start again. I expect that'll run in cycles too!
Centuries from now, our land rovers will be used by mad max-style gangs to roar through the deserts, waging local wars, I wonder if a
300TDi will run on boiled-down human fat? OK, getting a bit way out here ;-)
I don't "deserve" my nice, frugal diesel, comfortable, warm, reliable, capable, do anything, carry anything, go anywhere (assuming I'm still allowed) 4x4, but I'm glad I bought it and I didn't think about saving the planet although that depends on *how* I use it.
I don't really understand what you are trying to get at here but competent, creative, adept users of tools don't need any 'lobby' to proclaim their professionalism, this would be obvious from their output, but *I* must have failed because I'm not very good with IT?
What the hell for? Recreation? But not without help from some paper pusher who designed it and made the plans.
I
Get it recycled!
I suppose that could be a Godsend for someone with mobility problems.
Only when the load is heavy do people weaken. I had a holiday last year though I couldn't really afford it and I drove my kids to school.
I'm not allowed to say what colour I am but what has that to do with CO2 output? All in a light vein though ;-)
|| On 2006-11-01, beamendsltd wrote: || ||| I must be having a bad day! I still can't see it...... || || You said you were "self-emplyed", not quite "self-implied" but close || enough I suppose ;-)
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