The flying green 'swear box'

It's official: air travel is a bad thing. Now UK government ministers will be paying penance when they fly.

Under the new policy, when ministers or civil servants make official trips by air, the government will pay into a special fund to encourage 'clean' energy in the developing world. Even government critics think the idea will take off, though some claim it doesn't go far enough. 'This is an excellent and innovative idea', said former Tory environment secretary John Gummer. 'But it should not mask the appalling rise in emissions that will emanate from this government's disastrous aviation policy.'

If 'clean' energy was so important, surely the government should just pay for it. This new initiative is the environmentally friendly equivalent of a swear box, giving money to the poor every time you do something naughty. The clear implication is that air travel is morally wrong, a concession to those who argue that, in the words of one leading environmentalist, 'flying across the Atlantic is as unacceptable, in terms of its impact on human well-being, as child abuse'.

It is far from clear whether human beings are having any dramatic effect on climate. Even if such an effect is occurring, it does not follow that cutting back on travel is a sensible response. The ability to travel around the world in a matter of hours has helped to liberate us from the dead weight of parochialism, and has increased communication and trade - and vastly improved our holidays. Those who think that's a bad thing are clearly living on another plane.

MPs' flights 'pay for clean air', BBC News, 5 March 2005

Cool heads required, by Rob Lyons

spiked-central | Bites | spiked bite