The Liberal Green Party (LGP) has launched its first-ever people’s initiative, to convince voters to replace value added tax (VAT) with a duty on non-renewable energy sources.

At a party meeting on Saturday, delegates of the LGP - founded five years ago – said the energy tax would be an incentive for people to reduce oil and gas consumption while giving renewable energy sources a competitive advantage.

The party said this would free around 320,000 companies from the enormous administrative burden placed on them by VAT. Party president Martin Bäumle said the energy tax would double the price of oil and add SFr1 ($1.04) to the price of petrol (currently around SFr1.50 a litre).

The LGP claims liberal and environmental values and forms a group in parliament with the centre-right Christian Democrats and the Protestant Party.

A first cantonal chapter of the LGP was founded in Zurich in 2005 before a national organisation was set up two years later. There are presently 12 cantonal groups mainly in the German-speaking part of the country. The party has one seat in the 46-member Senate.

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