British Activists Satirize Government, Airline Industry
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 10.16.06
British activism organizations AirPortWatch, Enough's Enough, and Greenpeace UK up the ante in the debate over air travel's contributions to global warming with SPURT, a mock-PR campaign on behalf of British aviation. When you're finished watching the satirical video, these organizations invite you to learn more about proposals to expand aviation in the UK, and to contact the British Department of Transport to register your concerns. Enough's Enough has created a print ad for the campaign (in PDF), and AirPortWatch's "Rethink!" site presents their ten-point plan for creating alternatives to more planes in the air. Thanks to reader Captain greenpower for giving us the "heads up" on this one! ::SPURT via Climate Change Action
I have mixed feelings on making air travel prohibitively expensive. For those in Europe you have more choices on how to travel around to experience many countries (train, bus, auto). But for those of us in the US if we want to experience other cultures we pretty much have to hop on a plane.
I feel the last thing we need to do is encourage Americans never to leave their borders and never see how the rest of the world lives. Perhaps expanding our horizons is worth some greenhouse gas emissions.
NIMBYs doing a bait-and-switch.
There are many options other than 1) unlimited growth and 2) shutting down the airlines. To just look at the two is a false choice.
Treehugger has covered many options, including: "There are some positive proposals to make planes less damaging. Landing procedures could be changed so that they use less fuel. Airplane capacity could be increased and business class removed completely. Building lighter planes and making more aerodynamic improvements are all being implemented."
Use the little search box at the right top corner of the page and you can find more.
Those who fear Americans' isolation need not fear at all.
In the range of options are fuel taxes, green taxes, more stringent engine emissions regulations, including the airline industry in the CO2 cap and trade system, airplane taxes, government incentives for increased development of more fuel-efficient and less polluting alternative travel options, and so on. There are a large number of regulations and policies that EU governments could implement to help reduce airline traffic emissions now and in future.