Yesterday’s budget was strangely quiet on some points. For example, Green Deal only gets one mention (and only in passing). But Mr Osborne was comparatively vocal about other green issues, such as CRC.
Basically, he sees it as an unfair burden on business. And to sort this out…
…the Government will consult on simplifying the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme to reduce administrative burdens on business. Should very significant administrative savings not be deliverable, the Government will bring forward proposals in autumn 2012 to replace CRC revenues with an alternative environmental tax…
So CRC is good as gone.
While CRC was deeply flawed and I don’t think anyone will miss it, at least it forced large businesses to take carbon seriously. The crucial thing now is that Government maintains a level of continuity as it transitions to something new. To waver on its commitments here would send business straight back into “sceptical do-nothing wait-and-see” mode.
On the upside, the transition gives an opportunity to address some of the really stupid aspects of CRC. In particular the new system should recognise contribution from renewables and sit happily side by side with any incentives such as FiT and RHI.
carbon limited 
It is a stupid piece of legislation. If it is just a tax, then it should be just that. It imposed a huge cost for virtually no benefit at my last employer. The only benefit I saw was it was a good source of fees for lawyers and consultants.
[…] that I’ve written about this twice in a week I almost added a “CRC” category on the blog. But on second thought I […]