Denial and air travel
George Marshall “Comment: Why people don’t act on climate change” (July 2009)
“At a recent dinner at Oxford University a senior researcher in atmospheric physics was telling me about his coming holiday in Thailand. I asked him whether he was concerned that this would make a contribution to climate change (we had, after all, just sat through a two hour presentation on the topic). “Of course,” he said blithely, “and I’m sure the government will make long haul flights illegal at some point”.”
Personal implications of giving up air travel
Brilliant essay by Sharon Astyk on stopping flying and its personal implication. Lengthy and interesting blog discussion of the issue.
Alternatives to air travel
George Monbiot “Travelling Light” (6 May 2008)
Article asks, is the airship a viable alternative to jet travel?
Suggestions for slowing / halting air travel
George Monbiot “Whistling in the Wind” (2 December 2008)
Discusses emergency measures now required, including “d. Scrap the airport expansion programme. Set a cap on the number of landing slots, which will fall every year until it reaches 5% of current capacity.”
Biofuels and air travel (problems with)
George Monbiot “On the flight path to global meltdown” (September 2006)
Extract from “Heat”. Notes that the IPCC found that there wont be any practical alternatives to kerosene-based fuels for commercial jet aircraft for the next several decades. Concludes “there is no technofix to the disastrous impact of air travel on the environment – the only answer is to ground most of the aeroplanes flying today.”
Offsetting emissions (problems with)
Greenpeace “The trouble with carbon offsets” (16 September 2009)
Graphically demonstrated by throwing a (fake) bunny into an incinerator (video)