Livingstone on climate change – too right, and I’m guilty

Plane overhead

Plane overheadI’ve always admired Ken Livingstone. He’s clearly a very tricky and divisive character, but he does have a commitment and drive that so few politicians do. There’s a brilliant article in today’s Guardian about his take on climate change. This paragraph hits the nail on the head with regard to flying:

A lot of Labour party people say that the dramatic growth in air traffic is the poor getting on the plane for the first time, but it’s not that at all. Half the population never gets on a plane. What’s happening is that relatively few people, instead of going away once a year on holiday, are going three or four times a year to Barcelona or Prague or wherever. That’s all very nice, but not at the cost of the continuation of life on planet Earth.


I’m one of those. I’m guilty.

On the positive side, I am one of those people that constitutes a 72% increase in cycling in London. I don’t drive, I take the bus. I make sure I switch off all appliances, and have efficient lightbulbs where I can. So I’m not an evil Londoner in all ways.

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  • 01.11.2006
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Jon Worth's Euroblog
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