I've just added a blog item on the Transition Stroud blog re a meeting last week of the Business and Government Group - see here. One of the questions we posed was how to tackle business on this issue - the proposed expansion at Staverton airport was one example. Are businesses in support of this? Are they aware of the impact of aviation?Photo: Transition Stroud sub-group meeting last week
Certainly our government has failed dismally to get across the urgency. This can be seen in a poll by The Citizen and Echo that shows that 67% of people consider no action should be taken to cut the development of air travel. The paper rang today for a quote which I enclose below - but we need much more than a few quotes in the papers if we are to bring about real change.
The Transition Stroud group has some interesting ideas about the way forward: more to share here in the future - also welcome any support, thoughts etc.
Comment for local press:
I hope this poll is not a reflection of the general populations views because if it is, it shows we still all have much work to do. Oil is already becoming more expensive as reserves are reduced and the science of climate change is clear. We cannot countenance any further expansion of aviation: it is the economics of the madhouse to suggest otherwise. If aviation is allowed to grow at current projections it will account for all permitted greenhouse gas emissions, across all sectors, by 2045.
Our Government rather than listen to its own scientists prefers to massively subsidise the industry and plans expansion of airports. World Development Movement calculates that this years subsidy to UK aviation is £10.4 billion! The average salary of passengers using British airports is £48,000 and the proportion of lower income households who fly has shrunk since 2000 despite prices falling. We should also not forget that the people who are being hit first and hardest by climate change are among the poorest on earth.
The changes ahead mean that nothing short of a new human era is in the making. The choices we make now will determine whether the birthing is successful. People are starting to recognise the need for urgent action on climate change, but we still haven't created a positive debate to ensure everyone understands why change is needed. Brown or Cameron cannot even pretend to be green or fit to run our economy until they recognise basic economic realities and end aviation expansion. We urgently need some more green voices being heard if we are to bring about the changes needed.
1 comment:
Another letter sent to press on this:
It is extremely worrying that only 67% of your readers believe that no action should be taken to limit air travel. It goes to show the effectiveness of the campaigns run by the aviation companies, against the efforts and evidence that the scientific community have amassed on this issue.
Just this week, it has been reported that food prices around the world are rising rapidly. This will mean starvation for many of the world’s poorer people. The reason for this is the bizarre combination around the world of droughts and floods, all of which stem from global warming. We are rapidly running out of time to act.
As for the point that one of your readers has made in the feedback on this article about the Stern report claiming that aviation only accounts for 2% of emissions, this needs some careful consideration. Firstly the Stern report calculates the 2% based on all emissions, including burning down the rain forests. It is simply because this is such a large contribution to the overall total, that aviation is small. We should be campaigning against forest clearances as well, rather than ignoring aviation because it is small in comparison. Also the aviation figures in Stern are based on data from 2000 and do not reflect the growth that the industry has experienced since then or the anticipated future increase of their emissions. Finally the figures in Stern relate only to the CO2 emissions, whereas aviation also causes the release of NOx gases into the upper atmosphere which have global warming effects hundreds of times higher that CO2 alone. The radiative forcing effects of aviation indicate that the actual impact is 4 to 6 times higher that just for CO2 alone. These factors have made it virtually impossible for aviation to be incorporated into European Carbon Trading Mechanism, so great is its impact.
The facts speak for themselves. Staverton Airport is currently under review regarding expansion and there is no case for it. We need to hope that we have councillors who are brave enough to show leadership and do the right thing based on the evidence by rejecting the proposals, rather that to default to follower-ship and allow policies to be dictated by popularist opinion polls.
Regards,
Kevin Lister,
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