Paper: III
For Prelims: Carbon sequestration.
For Mains: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
 
 
Context of News:

• The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has approved a proposal to levy a ‘green tax’ on old vehicles from April 1^st 2022.
• Owners of old vehicles will have to pay the government a ‘green’ tax as a penalty for polluting the environment, which will be much steeper if you reside in one of the more polluted cities in India.

Carbon sequestration:

• Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change.
• The main natural carbon sinks are plants, the ocean and soil. Plants grab carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to use in photosynthesis; some of this carbon is transferred to soil as plants die and decompose. The oceans are a major carbon storage system for carbon dioxide.

Green Tax:

• A green tax is a tax that encourages people not to harm the environment, or helps pay for things that are good for the environment. Proposals to levy a green tax on carbon emissions will add to extra coast on the products that contribute in global warming by contributing green house gases in the atmosphere.

Why GOI is Imposing Green Tax on older Vehicles?

• Environment Friendly Vehicles:

• Government of India is trying o impose 10-25% of road tax on transport vehicles older than eight years at the time of renewal of fitness certificate.
• The proposal on green tax also includes steeper penalty of up to 50% of road tax for older vehicles registered in some of the highly polluted cities in the country.
• These all policies will help in reducing pollution of various cities of India. As very various reports indicating, in top 10 worst polluted cities, India has 3 cities in the list.

• Boosting Automobile Sector:

• The policy is aimed at taking off the roads old, fuel-guzzling vehicles whose roadworthiness may be in doubt and replacing them with new ones in a potential boost to automobile sales and their manufacturers.

Way Forward:

• While the issue of air pollution has managed to capture public imagination, the problem of growing question of growing population density in cities continues to be at best- an afterthought.

India’s policy to eliminate polluting fuel guzzlers has had a long gestation, and States should see the value of operational sing it as planned. New vehicles and cleaner fuels should help clear the toxic air in cities and towns and make roads safer.

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