This is not intended to be a Soapbox-style climate change argument...but, assuming that air travel is a fairly big contributor to climate change, what level of flying (if any) is acceptable?
To put this in context, I used to fly a lot for work: weeklies to Glasgow, monthly to the USA and so forth. I don't do that anymore, but I can't seem to shake the flying bug. Sure, we take plenty of UK vacations: bikes on the back of the (diesel) car and off to Cornwall/Wales/Scotland etc. And we are considering northern France or Holland via ferry for the next one. But there's something far more glamorous about flying and arriving in a place so different from home. I love the complexity of airports, the in-flight service, catching up on the crappy films you'd never pay money to see, and the challenge of dealing with very different languages and customs at our destinations.
We've historically spent time in the US, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, India, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia and many other places, often on round the world tickets, and usually managed to fit in a spot of cycling along the way. But is this a luxury the planet cannot afford? Should we be limiting our flights to only the necessities and looking for alternative transport to nearer climes? Or is managing one's own carbon output in other ways acceptable? We don't have kids, mainly use public transport, have an energy efficient house and energy efficient appliances, recycle what we can and so on. Is that enough?
Thoughts appreciated. I'm in a moral dilemma at the moment, with a stack of frequent flier miles that are begging to be used!
EC
To put this in context, I used to fly a lot for work: weeklies to Glasgow, monthly to the USA and so forth. I don't do that anymore, but I can't seem to shake the flying bug. Sure, we take plenty of UK vacations: bikes on the back of the (diesel) car and off to Cornwall/Wales/Scotland etc. And we are considering northern France or Holland via ferry for the next one. But there's something far more glamorous about flying and arriving in a place so different from home. I love the complexity of airports, the in-flight service, catching up on the crappy films you'd never pay money to see, and the challenge of dealing with very different languages and customs at our destinations.
We've historically spent time in the US, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, India, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia and many other places, often on round the world tickets, and usually managed to fit in a spot of cycling along the way. But is this a luxury the planet cannot afford? Should we be limiting our flights to only the necessities and looking for alternative transport to nearer climes? Or is managing one's own carbon output in other ways acceptable? We don't have kids, mainly use public transport, have an energy efficient house and energy efficient appliances, recycle what we can and so on. Is that enough?
Thoughts appreciated. I'm in a moral dilemma at the moment, with a stack of frequent flier miles that are begging to be used!
EC