11:41am Tuesday 4th September 2007
By Tim Quantrill
Green or obscene - the mileage counter
As predicted, the summer holidays have taken their toll and put a huge dent in my carbon bank this month. Flying to southern Spain certainly clocks up those miles and I've gone from being in the
black to being in the scarlet.
Miles by car: -738
Miles being driven: -0
Miles by plane: -2708
Miles by train: +474
Miles on foot: +118
Miles by bike: +0
Miles by bus: +0
Total: -2854 (running total: -2063)
If I was sadistic I might count those air miles as double but my guilt is causing me enough grief already. Flying to someone who cares about the planet is like bingeing on alcohol or cream cakes and
then regretting it the next day only far, far worse. It's not even as if I've got an excuse, a laudable reason for the trip like I was doing something worthwhile in the area or doing a little bit of
bad in order to do a lot of good.
I was just an ordinary tourist who hired a car to drive into the mountains to walk and to the coast to swim and relax on a beach. And, unfortunately, there are millions such as me in this country
alone. The trouble is jet travel is just too cheap and easy like having another bottle of beer or scoffing the rest of that cake.
And I'm not going to bother to offset the carbon from that travel. Being able to salve your conscience is an easy get-out and means people don't live with the consequences of their actions. It's
better to turn those feelings into a determination to cut back.
At least I'm looking to cut my carbon emissions in other ways to help spread out my own footprint over the year. And, with the new high speed line from London opening this winter, the continent is
much closer and easier by rail.
However, with a report this week revealing that the Government collects £29.3 billion in environmental and pollution taxes yet gives back only £549 million in incentives to people to be greener, as
usual Gordon Brown's policies are just greenwash.
Why not put some of that income into vastly improving grants so that people can cut their energy use and investing in a public transport system fit for the modern age? People might then not be as
resentful at having to pay extra for fuel and flights.
The rest of Europe has invested billions more than the British on trains, cycling and buses and it shows - when are we ever going to have a national high-speed rail network that gives the public an
alternative to flying?
The Pandora's box of worldwide travel is open now and we're never going to stop people going miles to shop or buying items from the other side of the world or popping away for a weekend or jetting
off to warmer or colder climes. What we need to do now is try and cut back on that number of trips and encourage alternatives so what savings in carbon we do make in other areas isn't swallowed up by
emissions from booming transport.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/