A third runway is proposed to be built at the Heathrow airport in the UK. Once constructed the third runway would make Heathrow to the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. It’s expected that the airport would emit nearly 27 million tonnes of CO2 every year. A sum that is equivalent to the emissions of 57 of the least polluting countries in the world combined.
Here in this video Emma Thompson, a British actress and Greenpeace activist, is being interviewed about her anger against the third runway. The video is about 3 months old I believe. But I think it clearly show what kind of feelings people have towards the third runway and the hypocrisy from the UK government.
Just as even the longest journey starts with one step, the salvation of the planet can start with one person: you. Each person that wants to be an eco- conscious traveller has to respect nature and seek for ways to reduce impact on it. That is achieved by making responsible choices and knowing well that just a few easy steps can make a big difference.
Fly nonstop: Planes burn the most fuel on takeoff and landing. That means that a long haul flight that takes you straight to your destination emits less CO2 than short haul flights. For the same destination, a long haul flight may burn up to two-thirds less CO2 than short haul flights.
In the latest of his groundbreaking encounters with the figures whose decisions shape our environment, George Monbiot meets Andy Harrison, the chief executive of easyjet, and takes him to task over the budget airline’s plans for an “ecojet”, growing carbon emissions from the aviation industry and the company’s carbon offsetting scheme
In a genius attempt to stop the construction of a third runway at the Heathrow airport in the UK the TV impressionist Alastair McGowan has bought a piece of the Heathrow third runway site along with Emma Thompson, Zac Goldsmith and Greenpeace.
If constructed the third runway would make Heathrow UK’s single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s expected that the airport would emit nearly 27 million tonnes of CO2 every year. A sum that is equivalent to the emissions of 57 of the least polluting countries in the world combined. But McGowan, Thompson, Goldsmith and Greenpeace hopes to stall or even stop the third runway completely by dividing up the plot to people around the world.
“The government would use its powers to issue compulsory purchase orders for the plots but lawyers said yesterday that the existence of thousands of owners would make this process time-consuming and expensive. Similar tactics have been used successfully to protect tropical forests.”
Greenpeace says they will “resist all attempts at compulsory purchase and will represent millions of people from across the world at any planning inquiry.” And that their “lawyers are now examining ways in which all of our owners can act as a legal obstacle to plans for a third runway at our busiest airport”. So far over 5000 people have signed up for a piece of the plot.
The Swedish climate group Klimax (climax), known in Sweden for their campaigns against private motorism, aviation and the meat industry, have been putting up stickers with the text “Flying Kills” on advertisements from different aviation companies.
The stickers are meant to resemble the stickers you can find on cigarette packages warning the buyer of the dangers the cigarettes will cause.
With texts such as “Flying Kills” and “Flying will lead to climate chaos” the guerrilla campaign is a smart initiative that surely will make some people stop and think.
Simon Retallack, from the UK Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), likes the idea of putting warning labels on adverts for flights, holidays and cars.
We know that smokers notice health warnings on cigarettes, and we have to tackle our addiction to flying in the same way.
But if we are to change people’s behaviour, warnings must be accompanied by offering people alternatives to short-haul flights and by steps to make the cost of flying better reflect its impact on the environment.
Simon Retallack wants higher air fares, including carbon offset charges. And any passenger unwilling to contribute should “be forced to actively opt out”.
Remember my old post about airships – the rebirth of aviation? Maybe you thought I was a complete tree-hugger lunatic that proposed airships as a greener and better option besides today’s polluting planes?
Well, here is further evidence that Airships is to play a big part in the future of aviation. EcoGeek lists three different airships that, as it seems, have a very bright future ahead of them.
The EcoGeek talks about the Aeroscraft – a commercial transport for tourists, the SkyCat – made for shipping and finally the SkyFreighter – who is (just like its name) focused on shipping large cargo.
As a person and consumer you have the power to do something about climate change. Never forget or think otherwise. Sure you may wonder how much you’ll actually help by replacing your CFLs, recycling etc but in the end all small things path up to something bigger and more meaningful, especially when many join in.
This is part two of a series of posts explaining and giving advice on what you can do to combat climate change from your home, in the store, when you travel and on your spare time. All the things listed are easy to do, some things will take a little longer, but most of them will help save you money (besides all the positive effects on our earth).
Aviation is the fastest growing cause of climate change, it destroys ancient forests and woodland, wiping established communities off the map and airport expansions destroys important heritage sites and causes illegal levels of nitrous oxide pollution. Today’s aviation industry is unquestionably an awful way of transporting people and goods.
With a well funded public transportation system nationally and globally most flights can stay on the ground, especially the domestic flights. In a global perspective high-speed railways can easily connect and transport people between different countries fast, easy and cheap.
Green Blog has daily updates and posts from authors around the world. Get our latest posts, commentaries
and articles by RSS-feed or by adding your
Email to our newsletter.
