Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to increase petrol taxes to help lower greenhouse gas emissions and fund alternative fuel research, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The rise, proposed as part of a wider plan to tackle harmful emissions, would be one cent per gallon.

The move comes soon after the RAC Foundation urged Chancellor Gordon Brown to send out a "green signal" by lowering car tax for the greenest vehicles on UK roads and to create a new high tax band for those that pollute the most.

RAC Foundation executive director Edmund King said such as move "would be a logical step to try to influence motorists' choice of vehicle".

As governor of California, Schwarzenegger has placed significant emphasis on environmentally friendly vehicles, even vowing to be the first person to buy a ‘green’ version of his gas-guzzling Humvee, if it materialised.

He recently announced a drive to develop a hydrogen distribution system for fuel cell cars and in June last year said he hoped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010.


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