Raise air travel tax, report says

Taxes on air travel and "gas guzzling" cars should be increased to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a committee of MPs has recommended in a report.
The MPs' report criticised the Department of Transport for adopting a "fatalistic" attitude towards cutting emissions caused by increased travel.
The report also called for speed limits to be dramatically cut or rigorously enforced on motorways and trunk roads.
Emissions from air traffic has doubled since 1990, the report added.
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said that transport was the only sector of the UK economy where carbon emissions have risen consistently since 1990.
The Government should take much more decisive action to shift the balance of affordability in favour of trains, buses, and lower carbon cars and lorries
Tim Yeo committee chairman
It accused the Department for Transport of seeming to accept that little could be done to stop the rise in CO2 emissions due to the increase in travel caused by economic growth.
The report noted that emissions from air traffic were projected to quintuple and suggested that the duty could be charged per flight, rather than per passenger.
They suggested that it could also be extended to cover air freight.
Tax hike
The recent introduction of variable Vehicle Excise Duty, which means that the lowest-carbon cars pay no road tax, while gas-guzzling 4x4s pay an increased rate of £210, was welcomed.
However the committee recommended expansion of this, highlighting proposals by the Sustainable Development Commission which suggest increasing the top band of VED to £1,800.
Under the plans, lower bands would be at £300 intervals down to the least-polluting cars which would be tax-free.
The report noted that the purchase of zero-tax cars fell between 2004 and 2005.
Protests
It also suggested a return to the fuel tax escalator, which increased the cost of petrol above inflation in order to deter road usage and caused widespread protests six years ago.
Committee chairman Tim Yeo said: "We are concerned that the department seems to have a fatalistic attitude which sees carbon-intensive activities and economic growth as going hand in hand.
"The government should take much more decisive action to shift the balance of affordability in favour of trains, buses, and lower carbon cars and lorries."
Mr Yeo accused the government and the airline industry of "intransigence" in relation to their efforts to cut emissions caused by air travel.
Friends of the Earth's senior transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said: "This is a damning report on the Government's failure to tackle climate change through its transport policies.
"Emissions from transport are still rising and forecasts suggest they will carry on rising for years to come."