In other news: Irish shoppers now have to pay a plastic-bag levy. That should certainly reduce the blight of polythene-infested hedgerows.
Our own Government's highest environmental issues seems to be road congestion, and proposes GPS receivers (transmitters, according to the Observer?) to charge for road use according to traffic conditions. Here's a better idea: decentralise it. Allow all car drivers to charge the driver immediately behind, proportionately to (their speed divided by their distance from you); then pay something like 80% tax on this "earned income". Motorbike riders can charge double. If you drive very sensibly you could even turn a small profit on your journeys.