Japan - Green tax supported

A poll by Environment Ministry in Japan indicates that, majority of Japanese would accept the idea of an environment tax on the carbon produced by burning fossil fuel. The ministry and environmentalists have long urged the introduction of such a tax, which would help curb energy use and reduce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, But the Japanese business houses are against any such move. A tax of 2,400 yen (US$19.92) per ton of carbon emitted from fossil fuels would cost each household roughly 2,100 yen a year.