Consultation on climate change leaves holes in the jigsaw
A consultation paper on options for reducing the UK's greenhouse gas emissions was published in October amid Ministerial claims that the programme's burdens were being exaggerated and the benefits understated. 1 The paper sets out initial official ideas for a sectoral share-out of the emission reduction burden - but it leaves many important questions unanswered, especially in the transport sector, where the Government appears to be having second thoughts about the road fuel duty escalator. Meanwhile, the Marshall report on the business use of energy has dashed the electricity and oil industries' hopes of an early start on emissions trading as well as the energy-intensive sectors' bid to be exempted from an energy tax.