Why are councils even considering supporting irresponsible businesses?

I have to say I am a little horrified by the on-going support by councillors for the airport expansion at Staverton - the Citizen paper also repeatedly carries articles on the airport that fail to mention the expansion leading to an increased carbon footprint. Not always do they print a letter from people in response to those articles but they have been pretty good.

Photo: Citizen covers demo last year

Last week there was a substantial article which covered an aviation enthusiasts hopes for the runway extension to go ahead - again no mention of CO2 - heres my response yesterday:

Aviation enthusiast Roger Daniels claims the extension of runway will benefit Gloucester and Cheltenham and Staverton airport chiefs claim increasing flights to EU destinations will mean more efficient business jets (23/06/07).

Growth in flights cannot be sustainable however you look at it. Aircraft are amongst the most CO2 intensive methods of travel and CO2 emitted at altitude increases global warming by up to a factor of four. If aviation is allowed to grow at current projections it will account for all permitted greenhouse gas emissions - across all sectors - by 2045.

The article claims this expansion will benefit our local businesses and economy yet responsible businesses are looking to reduce their flying by video conferencing and other methods. Why are local councils even considering supporting irresponsible businesses? They are signed up to cut emissions - it is time they took that seriously. Already the people who are being hit hardest by climate change are among the poorest on earth: to make the situation worse is unjust in the extreme.

As I've asked repeatedly, why should this airport be allowed to increase its CO2 emissions, when every other business in Gloucestershire is being told to cut theirs significantly? The science is clear. We cannot countenance any further expansion of aviation.

Cllr. Philip Booth, Stroud District Green Party.

In terms of aviation the local papers are understandably covering the run up to the world's largest Air Show at Fairford - again this has support from many local councillors - it is clearly a huge CO2 consumer but more worrying is the glorification of war and war machines - such Shows lend credibility and acceptance to these killing machines - in response I've helped put out a news release saying more on that - see it here.

But going back to Staverton - today I got a copy of letter sent by another local campaigner who runs his own blog and I thought it would be worth enclosing here as well:

It is easy for an aircraft enthusiast such as Roger Daniels to say that he is in favour of the airport expansion when he is 68 and enjoys reminiscing about the past. I have children who look to the future with foreboding and worry.

We need to think differently about the future and not simply be trying to recreate the past as he suggests. In the last few days we have seen much of this country flooded as a consequence of extreme weather, and extreme weather is becoming the norm for much of the planet.

Almost every country on the planet is currently being either baked or flooded. Warning bells are already sounding with world food reserves falling to their lowest levels as climate change bites into the productivity of our land.

The IPCC report and Stern reports are unanimous in their calls for CO2 cuts of 90%. Put simply this means we are entering into a new paradigm and that old assumptions of continued economic growth are no longer valid. This airport expansion will be a major emitter of CO2 and can not be allowed. Initial analysis of the business plan suggests that 1.5 million trees will be needed to offset the CO2.

Kevin Lister, Nailsworth

Meanwhile re Bristol airports plans to expand we are now waiting for them to submit their planning application to North Somerset Council. We anticipate this will happen some time over the summer and will be followed by 3 or 4 weeks public consultation, then 13 weeks of deliberation by the Council.