Does the European Green party deem the increase in the price of petrol to be a positive thing?
Yes, in the sense that it encourages people to watch their consumption of petrol. But it is not the best solution to the problem: it would be of much better use to increase public awareness. There comes a point when we need to send a strong signal. It would have been better to levy a strong eco-tax during the last decade when the price of petrol exported by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was low. Whilst maintaining stable prices for consumers, taxes could have been used to finance research or equipment which saves energy, such as public transport. This chance was missed ten years ago. Without these technical adjustments, both industrialised and industrialising countries are now completely dependent on petrol. For various geological and geo-political reasons (Iraq, Russia, Nigeria), the availability of petrol is significantly decreasing. As a result, its price is currently skyrocketing and the repercussions of the lack of political action are being felt. Bu
