reads90 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 mmmm reading this all with saddening intrest. what is my home land turning into In aus we need 4x4.s you get a few peole who say why , but not alot. As in the outback there are needed. They tried to ban 4x4's having bull bars. The gov said Yeah no worries. Which made the greenies go nuts and laugh at getting thier way untill the GOV went, BUT only in town, and if you have no bull bar then you can't go out of the town . As you may hit a roo or somthing. And we don't want to have to pick you off the road.. so the greenies had to back down and they now shut up. ( well almost ) As most aussie go out of the town at the weekend or live outide of town and drive into work, it was not possible mmm so Jules it looks like if you want to carry on playing with your landies you will have to move down here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02GF74 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Can't say I am happy about these proposals. Saw it on telly and other part of the propsoal was to make flying more expensive; hmm, easy jet ot anywhere for 20 p; now lemme see, are Mr and Mrs Chav, 10 million of them, going to vote for a party that will cost them £ 300 more to fly Shane and Spudulika to Costa del Toss for 2 weeks? Or are they going to go for the easier option and tax 4x4 against which the antis have whipped up a storm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishd Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 There's a really easy way to reduce carbon, just plant loads of trees, OK, they take a few years to get to fully grown but I always thought plants/trees helped reduce carbon levels ----found this to back up my statement here Eight Reasons to Plant Trees Trees clean the air: Trees help cleanse the air by intercepting airborne particles, reducing heat, and absorbing such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Trees remove this air pollution by lowering air temperature, through respiration, and by retaining particulates. & Trees become "carbon sinks": To produce its food, a tree absorbs and locks away carbon dioxide, a global warming suspect. An urban forest is a carbon storage area that can lock up as much carbon as it produces. more trees could be planted alongside major routes but within a reasonable distance from the road, around motoway service areas & maybe if every person in the country adopted 1 tree or paid for 1 to be planted in new forests around the country, I'm sure it would have an effect on the carbon levels. As someone has already pointed out, this isn't ideal and, like most things environmental, scientific data isn't clear on either side but I believe it's better than nothing. I've gone with a company called 'Carbon Neutral'* (www.carbonneutral.com) to "offset" the carbon emissions produced by my *cough*Jeep*cough*. This company have planted trees in small forest on the isle of sky on my behalf. You get a little certificate, a window sticker proclaiming your driving as Carbon-Neutral... and a feeling that at least you're trying Besides this, I'm stuck with the rest of the gods-own-fuel people waiting for 100% bio-diesel! *Usual disclaimer: I've no association with this company other than I've given them some cash and they've promised to do something on my behalf. I'll readily admit I could be being taken for a ride but I'd be in good company, seemingly this site is also supported by KT Tunstall, Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters etc... I'm sure also that other organisations are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveG Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 The attitude of successive governments stinks on this subject but is one of the few areas where both the Conservatives and Labour are consistent- let's fleece the motorist in the name of the environment! They have done this with consistent increases on fuel duties, introducing tax on motor insurance and increases in road tax. All the while consistently reducing expenditure on road expenditures. Now that increasing fuel duties is too politically sensitive they are looking for softer targets to fleece more out the the 'soft' target of motorists. Namely speeding over the last few years, congestion charging, road tax and potential per mile road charging! There are in the region of 28 million cars on the road in the UK, an increase of around 1000 pounds per annum would yield approx 28 billion pounds per annum all in the name of saving the environment. You can see why it's an attractive proposition for every government!! All the while, we just sit back and take it The last time we had outcry over fuel duties it was the haulage companies that hit-back by blockading oil refineries. It was this action coupled with the general support of the motorist that caused the governement to listen. the haulage companies won't be affected by road tax as they are already paying a much higher commercial license, so who will protest? Maybe these kind of proposals will cause the general motorist to say enough it enough! I feel this way already, the motorists are being taxed enough as is and anymore in any form is unnaceptable and can not be justified on saving the environment when no one has come up with a substantiated argument that global warming exists. btw the woodloand trust gives you ten trees for 50 quid compared to 6 trees for 60 quid from carbon neutral..http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/index.htm Cheers Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Hate to say it, but we should behave more like the French when they don't like Government decisions. A few crippling protests would make the decision makers think twice. Seems to me that at present we are doing what the goverment say - shouldn't it be the Government doing what we say? Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocKeR Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Golly Les! For someone who spends their time poring oil on troubled waters and issuing wise words of peace and wisdom on this forum I wouldn't have expected to hear these words of civil disobedience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8CAMEL Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 There's a really easy way to reduce carbon, just plant loads of trees, OK, they take a few years to get to fully grown but I always thought plants/trees helped reduce carbon levels ----found this to back up my statement here Eight Reasons to Plant Trees Trees clean the air: Trees help cleanse the air by intercepting airborne particles, reducing heat, and absorbing such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Trees remove this air pollution by lowering air temperature, through respiration, and by retaining particulates. & Trees become "carbon sinks": To produce its food, a tree absorbs and locks away carbon dioxide, a global warming suspect. An urban forest is a carbon storage area that can lock up as much carbon as it produces. more trees could be planted alongside major routes but within a reasonable distance from the road, around motoway service areas & maybe if every person in the country adopted 1 tree or paid for 1 to be planted in new forests around the country, I'm sure it would have an effect on the carbon levels. see this on the shirelrc site http://www.shirelrc.com/articles/cn_guide/carbon_neutral.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Golly Les! For someone who spends their time poring oil on troubled waters and issuing wise words of peace and wisdom on this forum I wouldn't have expected to hear these words of civil disobedience! That's only because we keep him on a short leash. Les is really our trained attack dog. I'm off to hide from the abuse I'm about to get Should be nice and quite in the Freelander forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 My cynical thoughts are that our politicians want to be seen as green. They don't want to do anything to lose the popular vote. Nobody is going to be bothered if car tax goes up a few quid when their car does 20mpg, but just talking about such initiatives gets plenty of publicity. Ladyman and colleagues would never have the courage to make huge tax hikes. On the plus side I just bought a nissan navara, they have just made the engine euro4 which reduced the car tax from 170 to 110 per year. At 170 bhp and nearly 2 tonnes it IS a gas guzzler, but I am paying less car tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 If a higher rate of tax is introduced then I don't think it'll be long before we start seeing the car makers announcing massive lay-offs because the cars they produce aren't being sold so they don't need the work force. I'm not just talking about those at the plants themselves cos it will have a fallout effecting manufacturing across the country and you could be looking at thousands of lay-offs. It could also affect international trade agreements with the likes of the U.S and Japan and the imports market in vehicles would also take a slump. Do you think Gordon Brown want's to take over as PM after reducing imports, increasing unemployment, raising interest rates due to a reduction in national production etc etc? Living up here, if they introduce a pay-per-mile then I'll fly if I need to go to the mainland cos it'll be soooo much cheaper!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 The problem is that every time the government increase tax (or whatever), the increasingly spineless population of this country just bend over, shut up, and just accept it. Blair and the rest of these wasters don't really care about green issues - it's just the current fashion. This country is responsible for 2% of the pollution of this planet - every little helps you might think, but the big polluters, such as China, India, Russia, the USA, are still pumping it out with little or no control at all. If this country was to shut down, in 2-years time, China will have 'developed' enough to cover what this country was emitting. What we are doing to cut emissions is in a global perspective - ineffective, and will continue to do so. The extra money we are being charged for driving our vehicles isn't going into planting huge tracts of forest to soak up Co2. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1G UP Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Just to be super cynical here.US BRITS are obviously fed up with being messed about on ALL aspects of he country from taves to imigration,road taxs and ALL other stealth taxes on Death duty,VAT Stamp duty etc etc etc . The population has grown due to our overseas friends coming in and taking up the jobs we don't want Now my point is that there quiet happy to put up with this because for example, if they go back after two years then they get there tax money back! So we have a migrant population now that has a say in our democracy but can run back with OUR tax money having skimmed the country of a few MIL. This is why i think the government gets away with slowly strangling US. Obvoiusly it's not quite as black or white as that and i have no problems with people doing a job and getting paid where ever they hail from. The country will slowly decend and i believe it's already happening.Look at our inner cities,somare no go areas. I fear for my,my childrens and all our futures and liberties if we continue. So on a lighter note lets all move to the outback which is fantastic.Drive 4x4's all day long,drink stubbies by night and be safe in the knowledge that there government has a little more back bone than ours! AMEN B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 On the plus side I just bought a nissan navara, they have just made the engine euro4 which reduced the car tax from 170 to 110 per year. At 170 bhp and nearly 2 tonnes it IS a gas guzzler, but I am paying less car tax. £110/year is what I am paying for my quad. Crappy system. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 So on a lighter note lets all move to the outback which is fantastic.Drive 4x4's all day long,drink stubbies by night and be safe in the knowledge that there government has a little more back bone than ours!AMEN B) Agree with you. But i am already ahead of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Until you click on the "have your say" button, then you get this: In aus they have "i Fish and I vote" car stickers Maybe you should get some stickers made saying " i drive a 4x4 and I vote" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I think that at the moment we are still lucky. Was talking to our friends from Holland - they pay between €30-€200 PER MONTH for each car - that is why most of them had their 4x4 converted into "commercial vehicles" but the gouverment closed this loophole for them as well. Sadly some of them had to give up their 4x4 (Defenders belong to the most expensive group) because they could not afford them Correct, My father owns a discovery in holland and pays well over a grand a year on road tax, due to its weight and the fuel (diesel and gas pay double the road tax, as there is less tax on the fuel). The 'commercial' loophole has now been closed, as since early this year any person who is not vat registered pays full whack. Also, the tax on new cars is the highest in europe. So putting a car on the road is mor expensive than anywhere else in europe. And for the speedcameras: Well at least in this country they are painted yellow, allowing you to put the brakes on in time (whatever that means for roadsafety). In holland they hide cameras in wheelybins, undercover cars behind trees you name it. The place is a sh1thole. The end Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Correct, My father owns a discovery in holland and pays well over a grand a year on road tax, due to its weight and the fuel (diesel and gas pay double the road tax, as there is less tax on the fuel).The 'commercial' loophole has now been closed, as since early this year any person who is not vat registered pays full whack. Also, the tax on new cars is the highest in europe. So putting a car on the road is mor expensive than anywhere else in europe. And for the speedcameras: Well at least in this country they are painted yellow, allowing you to put the brakes on in time (whatever that means for roadsafety). In holland they hide cameras in wheelybins, undercover cars behind trees you name it. The place is a sh1thole. The end Daan But in Holland everyone drives at 22mph anyway so why bother? Seriously the social benefits / employment protection / welfare state means the government have to tax everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 But in Holland everyone drives at 22mph anyway so why bother? Seriously the social benefits / employment protection / welfare state means the government have to tax everything. Correct again, especially the unemployement benefits are amazing, compared to the UK. The result being that a certain group of people (potentially an etnic minority) works for a few months and than deliberately sits back and does nothing. I am not keen on paying for this. and yes holland is a traffic jam all over. My first post was probably a bit strong, but I am not looking to go back. I expect Mastersplicer to turn up here soon and give his views. The last time I spoke to him he had sold his house and was about to disapear to sweden, for similar reasons as me. so, there you go. Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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