Wed, Oct 27, 2004
Not All That Is Green Is Growing
Britain's Green Party says it will
back the "Airports Pledge" campaign -- designed to foil the
government's attempts to expand aviation facilities in the UK. It's
a broad indictment of the aviation industry in general, saying
plans to expand both Stansted and Heathrow airports is bad for the
environment.
"This conference has heard a lot about the hazards of climate
change," said a report on the Green Party's website. "Aviation is
the fastest growing source of the CO2 emissions which cause global
warming. The Labour government's disastrous airport expansion
proposals will mean millions more flights and much more pollution.
It must be stopped."
With that in mind, the Green Party statement said, "The campaign
encourages members of the public to pledge to actively oppose
government plans for airport expansion in a wide variety of ways
from lobbying politicians and companies to participating in direct
action and voting only for politicians who oppose airport
expansions."
As ANN reported in December, the government of
Prime Minister Tony Blair has approved a plan to add runways to
both Heathrow and Stansted. But Green Party member
Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, said, "The Air Traffic Bill was a milestone,
because it meant one of the houses of parliament had actually
agreed that aviation emissions must be drastically reduced. But
Bills passed by the Lords go nowhere unless taken up in the House
of Commons. So we need more people to lobby the bigger parties to
make sure this Bill comes into law. It's a crucial plank in the
fight against climate change."
Fitz-Gibbon, a member of the House of Lords, has been arrested
twice while protesting airport expansion in Manchester. And, if his
statements at a weekend leadership conference were any indication,
he's not finished yet. "Many Green Party activists have taken part
in non-violent direct action including against airport expansion.
Direct action is a vital component of radical politics in a system
where vested economics interests exercise so much power and the
democratic deficit is so immense."
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