unnecessary flights

[tb]

Is flying by passenger jet about to become the new fur coat of obscenity?

well I posted this in 2007, some 12 years ago.

It's possibly more relevant now. And maybe more people will be giving the topic due consideration ?

I hope so.

Its estimated that this year there will be between 39 million and 45 million passenger flights. In 2019 alone.

maybe go by train.


ps. I have nothing whatsoever to do with xr.

[AlbionLass]

I think it already is, it will join driving an SUV in that respect.

Personally I've never flown or driven.

[tb]

I'm encouraged by your'e enthusiasm Albionlass, but you must admit that there are many people who believe that financial stability / social welfare depend wholy on economic growth which comes from extra runways, more flights & the rest.

when I was a lad (60's) my father and his peers used to boast openly about how many company miles they had covered by car, and the greater the number of miles the better as they would achieve more tax relief!!
how things have changed.

[AlbionLass]

I'm encouraged by your'e enthusiasm Albionlass, but you must admit that there are many people who believe that financial stability / social welfare depend wholy on economic growth which comes from extra runways, more flights & the rest.

I don't consider myself a fully paid up sandal wearing enviro'mental'ist. My choice of not driving or flying began solely through being skint. Now though that I have more disposable income it has become a choice.

I wouldn't say no to a 1970 Dodge Challenger if anyone wants to buy one for me though. I don't want to drive it, just gaze at it.

Honest.

[tb]

I'm guessing that we're mostly singing from the same songsheet on this messageboard,
but listening to the radio earlier today it was interesting to hear of all the views opposing any protest at Heathrow airport, mostly a bit right wing refering to things like 'get a job ' & ' use some soap ' etc

[rower40]

I try to support the green ideal by not owning a car, so I ought to be more anti-flying than I am.

But I've never been knocked off my bike by a plane. (Yet. Maybe I should bike to the Heathrow protest camp.)

[meic]

Best to just put the blame on all those evil Chinese and Indians as being the real problem and claim that what we do isnt important.
As the man said on the radio "Air flight is only responsible for 5% of the problem"
Or break down your group to a small one like "UK citizens on flights from Heathrow" so that it is only a small fraction of the entire global pollution.
So compared to the enormity of the whole worlds pollution we can do what we like, as no individual's pollution is that important.
Or admit to some polluting but say it is OK because we are not as bad as the Americans.

[AlbionLass]

I beleive in taking some degree of personal control and responsibilit over this.

Yes others, either as individuals or as a nation are polluting to a greater (or lesser) degree than I am but at least I can sleep a tad easier at night and look into my childs eyes with slightly less guilt because I am doing my small part and will continue to do so.

[mhara]

I think of environmentalists as people who wish to live within the resources of our planet instead of contributing to the depletion of its resources. This means understanding more about ecology and our impact on the natural balance of all life.

It means not pushing every creature other than us ever further into the margins and sometimes into extinction.
It means not exhausting the natural balance of our soil and then beefing it up with artificial fertilisers.
It means learning how every plant might be of use, not just to us, but to other living things, and not just cutting down more and more jungle and planting thousands of square miles of GM corn or soya because it's more profitable.

Mahatma Gandi said we should live our lives so as to be the change we wish to see in the world. I don't like the aggressive, ever expanding, inhumane culture of western capitalism, but changing it - where do you start?

The Heathrow protestors? Will we always need people who go miles too far in order for the rest of us to move a few feet further towards a better life?

[pliptrot]

Spare a thought for us stuck in jobs that require air travel. My passion is cycling, and until Chris Juden's job becomes available (and it's unlikely I could do it anyway) I'm stuck with what I have: a job requiring a lot of travel by air.

Now, I'd love to give it up and never be further from the ground than I am on a bicycle, ever again, but the simple truth is that I have a mortgage and a wife, and I doubt the State would step in to help out supporting those if I stopped being economically active on the grounds of environmentalism.

The world operates on a system which relies on our damaging ways; those of you pointing fingers at those of us who are part of this should look closer to home - if you buy bikes, or bike parts, or indeed anything made abroad (and in this I mean in the Far East) then you are part of this system too.

[AlbionLass]

I don't think anyone is pointing fingers at any person here.

We all do what we feel we can that fits in with the way we need, or try, to live.

[nigel_s]

I don't think anyone is pointing fingers at any person here.

We all do what we feel we can that fits in with the way we need, or try, to live.

That's right. We as individuals are kind of stuck in a system that's very difficult to get out of. But I think that it's right to say that a lot of people doing a little bit to help cut down the damage we all do to the world we live in adds up to a lot of little bits. And the more little bits which add up to quite a big bit will be the only way that will make the "grey men in suits" that run the planet will take any notice.

(I think I follow that... )

[horizon]

Spare a thought for us stuck in jobs that require air travel. My passion is cycling, and until Chris Juden's job becomes available (and it's unlikely I could do it anyway) I'm stuck with what I have: a job requiring a lot of travel by air.

Now, I'd love to give it up and never be further from the ground than I am on a bicycle, ever again, but the simple truth is that I have a mortgage and a wife, and I doubt the State would step in to help out supporting those if I stopped being economically active on the grounds of environmentalism.

The world operates on a system which relies on our damaging ways; those of you pointing fingers at those of us who are part of this should look closer to home - if you buy bikes, or bike parts, or indeed anything made abroad (and in this I mean in the Far East) then you are part of this system too.

pliptrot: how did they do your job in the 1950s, say?

[AlbionLass]

Spare a thought for us stuck in jobs that require air travel. My passion is cycling, and until Chris Juden's job becomes available (and it's unlikely I could do it anyway) I'm stuck with what I have: a job requiring a lot of travel by air.

Now, I'd love to give it up and never be further from the ground than I am on a bicycle, ever again, but the simple truth is that I have a mortgage and a wife, and I doubt the State would step in to help out supporting those if I stopped being economically active on the grounds of environmentalism.

The world operates on a system which relies on our damaging ways; those of you pointing fingers at those of us who are part of this should look closer to home - if you buy bikes, or bike parts, or indeed anything made abroad (and in this I mean in the Far East) then you are part of this system too.

pliptrot: how did they do your job in the 1950s, say?

He could be an airline pilot of course.....

[sham22]

Spin , spin , spin . Real work goes on with the use of internet meetings , drawings etc. are handled over the internet . More spin = more spin. SAD.