A climate change tax at the centre of the Government's green policies looks doomed in its present form, according to an article in The Independent. It states that a Labour-dominated Commons select committee of MPs called for changes to allay fears that it could cost Britain thousands of jobs and millions of pounds in lost orders. The committee is said to be "disturbed" by the unprecedented scale of the reaction from big businesses to the climate change levy on industrial emissions. The Chancellor announced in the March Budget that he planned to introduce the levy in 2001. The business and commercial sectors will be liable for the levy on their final energy consumption; energy used for domestic and transport use will be exempt. Heavy users may be eligible for reductions if they can agree with the DoE on reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
