Air travel rant

[lethargic_man]

It was two years ago at the Tu Bishvat seder at Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg's that I learned that of all the things that your average westerner does, the one which is worst for the environment—and, indeed, likely to offset all the good they might do through recycling, etc, is their once-a-year holiday by long haul flight. This is because air travel causes the release of an extremely large amount of greenhouse gases.

My father pointed out that once-a-year long haul holidays are probably outweighed, in respect of contributing to the Greenhouse Effect, by multiple short-haul long weekends. This is partly because air travel is exempt in this country from both VAT and tax on kerosene; therefore short journeys are often much cheaper by air than by rail (though creating three times the amount of greenhouse gas in the process). Apparently the public is in favour of making air fares reflect their environmental impact. (This surprises me because when the government tried to make petrol fares reflect their environmental impact six years ago, the lorry drivers of the country rose up and rebelled, the public supported them, and the government had to back down.) However, the chance of the air industry actually making this change appears to be pretty low.

At the time I learned the above, I scarcely travelled by air, so I did not feel this affected me much. Since then, however, I have travelled to Berlin, Prague, Budapest and Stockholm, and done so each time by air; and plan to travel to Israel by air this summer for Ta'amim. This weighs on my conscience badly.

livredor would like me to come back and visit her in Stockholm again. When I pointed out to her my qualms about air travel, she told me of a plan pseudomonas had for travelling the overland route, and stopping for some tourism in Brussels and Copenhagen along the way. This strikes me as a very good idea, and I may well do that. The problem about travelling overland is that it's considerably more expensive, and, for travelling across Europe, it takes considerable time, and, with limited days off each year, time is the one thing we cannot afford (particularly those of us who end up using half of our leave on the Jewish holidays).

I learned last week my cousin is getting married next summer in the south of France. I told my mother, who recycles religiously, that I wouldn't be going there by 'plane. She laughed at me and said the 'plane would still be leaving whether I was on it or not. Sadly, this kind of attitude seems all too prevalent.

Comments

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

On a personal level, I adore cheap short-haul flights. On a green level, I abhor them.

I think there are some things that are, alas, worth using resources for. For me, driving in bad weather/at night is one of them. Visiting friends and family you would otherwise not get to see is another.

I think it's important to use what resources we have wisely and well. NOT for the breakfast in Paris or the quick business lunch in Munich; but for things that are important.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

making air fares reflect their environmental impact.
Does this mean calculating that the environment can support each individual flying, say, once every five years, and then pricing so that the average citizen can only afford to fly once every five years? If not, what does (or what should) it mean?

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

In this particular instance it reflects me using language loosely. I should be ashamed of myself. ;^b

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

No, the DoT uses the same.

[snjstar.livejournal.com]

Even so the more you recycle the better the environment is despite so much air travel.