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Should displays of Christmas lights in Norwich and Norfolk be licensed and taxed?
With Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council declaring a Climate Emergency, and several other town councils across Norfolk considering the same, should Christmas lights that are viewable by the public be licensed and climate/carbon taxes levied upon them?
For over 40 years now I have known about greenhouse gases, airborne carbon particulate pollution and the climate change: it was taught to me in school during the mid 1970s
Each year we see the net energy consumption of the individual rise, not lower to the point where we are as individuals are annually consuming three to four times more energy than we did in the 80s and 70s.
Every year we see more audacious displays of festive season lighting displays that seem to begin earlier each year, not only in public spaces, shops, and commercial premises, but also homes. The energy these lights consume must be produced somewhere and it will have a carbon foot print and polluting consequences.
Therefore should not all displays of festive lights be licensed and taxed including the private individual with a display of lights in the front garden or draped upon their house, after-all we pay a pollution tax through the VED levied upon our cars
These levies should then be distributed 50% to the local authority, 40% to the regional authority and 10% to central gov’t, thus providing the required resources to police local air pollution policies.
Gareth Lewis (in Thorpe Hamlet)
