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Why do something today when you can put it off til tomorrow?
By | November 23, 2007
BAA proudly announces the advent of a new runway and terminal 6 (although silent about the village that needs to be bulldozed)
It seems the future is always the best place to deal with urgent issues that otherwise require us to address things in our own lives. At least, that is, according to many economists and certainly it is the case with the Labour government’s minister for transport Ruth Kelly, BAA and the aviation industry generally.
I listened to BAA CEO Willie Walsh and a minister for transport on Channel 4 news last night and hoped for some sense that the UK government realise the need to collectively pool our compassion for planet and people in addressing global warming. 
I waited to hear someone promote the many positive alternatives, that in the mix we should encourage as many people as possible to be free from flying. All the in depth work (whether from the IPCC, the Department for Transport, the MET’s Tyndal Centre, or the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford) on aviation growth tells the same story. Predict and Decide sums up much of the recent research and describes how with the growth predicted and planned for by the aviation industry and government we could expect to see a doubling in current emissions. 
This will translate to anything from 50 to 100% of the total UK allowable GHG emissions by 2050 with the IPCC referenced forcing factor of 2.7 and the commitment of the UK to a cut of 60 to 80% of 1990 green house gas emissions (GHGs). In other words either the rest of the UK economy goes into melt down or the government is completely misleading the public on their real intentions to address climate change. I don’t think the aviation industry can replace almost every other aspect of the economy!
The only answer I have heard on this from BAA or government ministers is that aviation will hopefully be within the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) where it can purchase the right to emit from other industries. But this is plane nonsense and cannot turn black into white. If this were genuine and not just avoiding the reality of the situation, then no business investor would go near aviation, as every aviation business across Europe will be trying to buy the same emission permits, along with the power generation sector and almost any businesses that is dependent on use of electricity or directly emits GHGs. Such ’smoke and mirrors’ and sophistry is not appropriate when we have so little time to deal with global warming.
Time for a bit of of Winston Churchill - “It’s no use saying, We are doing our best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”
Topics: Alternatives to Air Travel, Aviation Industry |
December 10th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
‘…We shall fight on the landing grounds… We shall never surrender.’