Fuel Fools

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

The Scottish Parliament has passed a motion calling on the UK government not to implement a proposed tax increase on fuel prices.

I caught a wee bit of the debate last night, and what I saw was woeful.

Member after member lined up to share their constituents' tales of woe, and, as one observed, it was rather like a Dutch auction as they competed against each other to say who had the highest petrol price.

And yet most of their speeches didn't acknowledge that this could be our future. That high oil prices could be here to stay. That building new roads and new road bridges was the stupidest thing we could be doing to prepare for the new world economy that is looming.

By contrast, Spain has taken the bull by the horns and lowered their motorway speed limits to cut fuel use, as well as lowering train fares.

Compare and contrast these stories:

Spain Speed Limit Cuts To Save €1.4billion A Year

Make Limit 80...And Put Economy In Fast Lane

Perhaps the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, needs to listen to Chris Huhne's speech tonight on the economics of climate change and peak oil. Burning our way through the stuff faster in order to "improve" the economy is a ludicrous notion.

There was one notable exception in the Scottish Parliament debate last night. The Green's Patrick Harvie attempted to get across to his fellow parliamentarians the futility of reducing the tax on fuel which would only keep the price low by a couple of weeks at best. He wasn't listened to, and continually interrupted.

It seems that for some people, and in particular our political lords and masters, the short-term gain of cheaper fuel trumps the long-term pain of the entire planet.