FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Let’s let airlines know that climate concerns are changing our flying habits
Old Dec 27, 2019, 5:38 pm
  #40  
hfly
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,329
The aviation industry has consistently been moving toward cleaner and more efficient planes that pollute less and which use less fuel. If we were still using 60's - 80's era aircraft, the aviation industry would be producing 15-20% of the World's CO2 emissions, not 2% (or 2.5% as some recently have tried to stretch it to, despite the fact that that .5 percent is actually MILITARY, good luck in getting that reduced). It is in the industries interest to continue doing so. This Scandinavian/Calvinist trip guilt did not start with the Thurnburgesque "flightshaming" of the last year or so, but goes back to the late 80's and early 90's when First class was eliminated from all Scandinavian carriers, and they came up with more artful names for Business Class, because that is just how they are, guilt ridden. It is why Nobel, perhaps the man responsible ultimately for more deaths and war than any other person in modern history, started the Nobel foundation, and why the Norwegians try and be so "good" and environmental, when their entire economy is pretty much based on oil and gas.

When one PAYS FOR Business Class (not jumpseating/buddypassing or whatever) one is paying for the space that one uses, and in many countries, one is already paying a "sin tax" whether it is termed APD, environmental tax or whatever, and if one pays and flies more often, one pays more and more for it...............but you know what? In almost all of these cases the governments collect these taxes and throw them into the general "pool" and nothing is used to combat climate change or anything else specifically. You think any further guilt taxes are going to do any real good?

Now let's talk about cement. Between the production of cement and the usage of cement, the numbers are actually bumping up to 10% of all CO2 emissions, not 8% as said above, (aviation is at 2%, and has been pretty steady for awhile). Cement will rise to TWENTY PERCENT in the next 30 years.

Let's talk about the shipping industry, which uses "BUNKER" which is the cheapest dirtiest fuel that you can imagine and which produces TWICE as much CO2 (and many other pollutants) than the entire aviation industry, and is estimated to account for 20% of all CO2 by 2050! Coincidentally who are two of the biggest players ultimately in the shipping industry? Norway and Denmark! Despite some lip service, they have done almost nothing concrete to counteract any of this.
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