I returned to my car recently to find a leaflet on my windscreen telling me I'm a 'fossil fool'. This week, for the second consecutive year, I have offset all the carbon emissions from my cars. I know that offsetting is no substitute for not creating the emissions in the first place but it helps to counter ‘unavoidable’ emissions as well as those for which we are at fault.

Last year, when preparing for the local elections, I was advised that I shouldn’t deliver a leaflet on ‘green’ issues. Apparently, because I own a car that creates over 270g/km of C02 it would make me a hypocrite. I also drive a diesel that returns over 50mpg but this, I was told, would make no difference in the eyes of the public. I recycle avidly, live in a modern well insulated home, try to buy locally produce over goods flown in from around the globe and feel passionately that the environment should be near the top of the political agenda. Yet the gentleman giving me the advice was probably correct – the media, and politicians, have done a good deal to convince the public that it is mothers in SUVs and sports car enthusiasts that are solely responsible for climate change. This year when I taxed the offending vehicle it cost £400. My next car is likely to be charged £950 road tax in its first year on the road.

I have no objection to paying more tax for a vehicle because it cost more than others. Again, I have no objection to paying more road tax because my car is less efficient than others. What, however, I do have an issue with is the idea that simply by owning a car that creates roughly twice the Co2 of your average Ford Mondeo I am somehow irresponsible. I cover approximately 4,000 miles a year in the car that I was told disqualified me from talking about the environment, yet someone who drives a Ford Mondeo over 20,000 miles a year would be free to say what they wished without fear of public ‘outing’. A friend, who drives a Range Rover over similar distances to me, has had his car vandalised and often returns to find leaflets on his windscreen telling him what a dreadful person he is. Is he really any more responsible for climate change than the person that drives ten times the distance in a car twice as efficient? Of course he isn’t. Yet in the eyes of the media and much of the public he is guilty.

I’m opposed to road pricing, however, I can’t help but feel a car tax based on mileage coupled with Co2 emissions would be a fairer method. Some might argue that the price of petrol already does this but I would disagree.

A survey conducted by CNW Marketing Research concludes that the Jeep Wrangler (a 4.0 litre, petrol 4x4) is one of the most environmentally sound cars on the planet. Their objective was to find the real energy cost from ‘Dust to Dust’ of producing vehicles for consumer use. Was this just a useful bit of PR by the American car industry? Perhaps, but few people give thought to the energy used during the production of their vehicle; 80percent of the energy a car uses is created during production and only 20percent during its lifespan. By this measure the Toyota Prius and other hybrids fare very badly.

The mother doing the school run in an SUV has become something of a cliché. I often wonder whether the outrage directed at the £70,000 4x4 outside a school is motivated out of true concern or simply because it’s easy to dislike someone in a big, expensive car. I can’t help but feel that sometimes it’s a little of both.

Attacking the car driver has become fashionable yet, according to the UN, the environmental damage caused by all forms of transport worldwide (including air) is less than that caused by the global cattle rearing industry. Somehow I don’t think we will see the left leaning media leading the campaign against bovinae or people slipping leaflets into packets of beef in Waitrose – it just doesn’t have the same crusade like ring to it.

‘Green’ campaigners should be congratulated for their work driving down Co2 emissions and encouraging car manufacturers to do the same. It is an important part of the battle against climate change and I'm looking forward to some of the more exciting results, such as the Tesla Roadster. I’m just a little tired of being told that I don’t care about the environment because of the car I own – I’m a sports car enthusiast and, as long as I use the vehicle responsibly, feel I should be free to pursue this hobby.

When Ming Campbell became leader of the Liberal Democrats he drove a vintage Jaguar. Shortly afterwards he sold it stating: ‘Global warming is a big issue. Everyone has to do his or her bit. I had to change my habits. I used to have a 12-cylinder Jaguar with a 5.3 litre engine which I loved, but I realised I couldn't continue to drive it and talk about global warming’. Is the argument really this simplistic? Is Ming right and am I wrong? Can I campaign on buying local produce and environmental issues without being labelled a hypocrite? I know what I think but please let me know your views.