ZPEnergy.com - Treasury hijacks funds meant for green causes

Hundreds of millions of pounds raised from electricity bills to help develop renewable energy are being diverted to the Treasury, creating a new " stealth tax". So far, the Treasury has taken £210m from the so-called NFFO Fund, while only £60m has been spent on renewable energy. By 2010, the fund is expected to have raised as much as £1bn, which is likely to be taken by the Treasury for general spending.

The process is based on the fund being a "hereditary revenue of the Crown" along with income arising from the Crown's traditional rights to treasure trove, swans and sturgeons. The director of Greenpeace, Stephen Tindale, said: "This sounds like a scandal in the making. Money raised from consumers for renewable energy must be spent on renewables - not on general expenditure. This is enough money to make Britain the world leader in offshore wind power, and that is how we believe it should be used." Mike Childs, of Friends of the Earth, said: "This money has been raised for renewables and that's how it should be spent, for example, to bring on a new generation of renewable technologies such as wave and tidal power."

From: http://www.keelynet.com/#whatsnew
Full story: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article332163.ece