Johnny's blog

Plane Stupid has laid down the gauntlet to the government that claims to be the greenest of them all.

In the spirit of democracy, we submitted our response to the government’s sustainable aviation strategy. The beating heart of their strategy is the crazy idea aviation can grow and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with demands from climate science.

They say they want to “explore how aviation growth can occur, while ensuring that it is genuinely sustainable.” It does not matter how much consultants and civil servants were paid to produce their strategy, statements like this are rubbish and will always be rubbish. An average five year old would see through it. It is the Emperor with no clothes all over again. Worst of all, it dangerously gives the impression something is happening when the intent of the process is to ensure that nothing happens.

A strategy that states “we are undertaking an assessment of the relative cost effectiveness and abatement potential of different measures for reducing aviation CO2 emissions out to 2050,” gives no cause to think that they understand what is happening. With the business-as-usual scenario which is the basis of government's strategy, the planet could not be habitable by 2050. And what should we conclude with the comment of assessing the cost effectiveness of reducing CO2? When they conclude the aviation industry will massively lose profits, they will again stick their fingers in their ears and pretend climate change is not happening.

Their strategy is based on technological innovation, biofuels and carbon trading within the European Trading Scheme. Each one of these is a failure. We prove this in our submission.

This consultation process has set “Big Aviation” swinging into battle with their billion-pound marketing budget. Adverts and press releases about how many billions the aviation industry will make are spreading like rashes. Right in the middle of the consultation process BA have launched the sickliest advert since the Wright Brothers first flew with the sole purpose of lobbying politicians.

With our marketing budget of precisely zero, we offer a more realistic alternative above. Our response to the consultation can be downloaded from HERE.

The aviation industry thought it couldn't get any worse. In the middle of October Justine Greening, the inverterate opponent of Heathrow expansion, was made Secretary of State for Transport. Two weeks later the Labour party has announced it is dropping its previous support for a third runway at Heathrow.

The industry has spent the autumn frenetically lobbying for further airport expansion in the South East. It comes to something when weeks of frantic activiy has resulted in Justine Greening as Transport Secretary and the Labour party abandoning the third runway. Is it losing its touch?

To rub salt into its wounds, Maria Eagle, Labour's transport spokeswoman, chose to make the announcement while addressing the conference of the Airport Operators' Association at the prestigious Metrople Hilton Hotel on Edgware Road. She told the conference:

"The answer for the south-east is not going to be to fall back on the third runway at Heathrow... it is off the agenda.The political reality is that the (Heathrow) runway decision has been made and it is done".

The campaigners' chant has come true. There really will be No Third Runway!

It was the aviation industry's worst nightmare. Justine Greening made Secretary of State for Transport. Its now a reality - David Cameron appointed her on the 14th October.

Justine Greening has got form. Form that frightens the industry…..and the civil servants in her new department. She was a staunch opponent of the third runway at Heathrow. Rallies, meetings, marches, demonstrations, she was there.

More than that, she was a hugely pro-active opponent of Heathrow expansion. It was her tenacity which revealed the collusion that was going on between the civil servants in the Department for Transport and BAA, the owners of Heathrow.

The Sunday Times broke the story on 29^th November 2009:

“The Government colluded with the airports operator BAA to skew evidence in favour of expanding Heathrow and play down facts that could help opponents, secret documents indicate. The government was so concerned about the content of internal emails and memos about Heathrow expansion that it spent 18 months trying to prevent them being revealed. They were obtained only after Justine Greening, Tory MP for Putney, complained to the freedom of information watchdog”.

It was this information which led to one of Plane Stupid’s most famous actions.

It’s not surprising that within hours of Justine Greening’s appointment as Transport Secretary the aviation industry’s PR machine swung into action. British Airways’ boss Willie Walsh was quoted in the Daily Telegraph saying that she was “compromised” over Heathrow expansion. Her appointment prompted a major article in the Times by its economic editor David Wighton, ‘Can growth take off without a third runway.’ In the article Wighton writes:

“Ms Greening impressed many in the transport world as a junior Treasury minister….from the aviation industry’s point of view there is just one small snag.  Ms Greening is the MP for Putney, which sits under the flight path to Heathrow, and has been one of the most prominent opponents of expansion at the airport.”

The industry is making a lot of Justine Greening’s perceived conflict of interest of representing a constituency under the flight path.  But it is a cover for the fact that it has a Transport Secretary who doesn’t share their view on a key aspect of aviation policy.  As Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative MP for the neighbouring West London constituency of Richmond, put it on twitter:   ‘BA boss says Transport Sec is 'compromised' re: Heathrow. That's what not agreeing with BA is called?’  Philip Hammond, Greening’s predecessor, also represented a constituency heavily overflown by Heathrow aircraft.  No mention from the aviation industry he might have a conflict of interest.

The irony is that Justine Greening is not against airport expansion. But she will want to base her decisions on proven facts. Perhaps thats what worries the aviation industry. It can no longer operate in a fact-free zone.

I have just returned from Nantes in South West France where 4,500 people demonstrated against plans for a new airport on Sunday (12th July). 14,000 over 2 days. This could become the 'French Heathrow'. The site of a victory as iconic as the struggle against the third runway.

The campaign has brought together a vibrant coalition of local residents, environmentalists, sympathetic politicians and direct action activists who have set up the ZAD camp in the area. It is a community-driven campaign protecting the homes and livelihood and land of small-holders whose families have farmed on the agricultural land for generations.

Over the past decade the campaign has grown in strength and radicalism. Already the local community has staged direct action protests. They are now supported by a camp of activists from all over Europe. On Sunday they all came together for what, each year, has become one of Europe's biggest annual protests. 4,500 people formed the human aeroplane, pictured above, with the defiant message that "we will win". Amongst those joining them for the weekend protest was both the radical activist Jose Bove and the Green Party candidate in next year's presidential election.

The campaigners have succeeded in making their fight a national issue. Hardly surprising as it has become the biggest airport campaign in Europe. If the Greens get enough votes in the Presidential Election they will insist that the dropping of the new airport will be a key condition in any deal they may do with the socialists.

Nantes already has an airport. The campaigners argue that, just a few hours by the fast TGV from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the proposed airport - Nantes International - is little more than an exercise in ego-building by the regional politicians in the ruling socialist party. The campaigners have commissioned a report from the respected Dutch economic consultancy, CE Delft, to prove that the airport is unnecessary.

It is an inspiring fight. What the campaigners need is support from activists across Europe. Go down to the camp. And, in a few months, they may be organizing an event, possibly in Paris, where supporters will be asked to come from all over Europe. Our chance to deal another devastating blow to airport building in Europe.

For more information and directions to the camp you can get in touch with zad@riseup.net

Source: Flickr

4 men and 1 woman were arrested and charged on Wednesday 31st March for speaking in public about the climate effects of aviation at the reopening of Glasgow Airport Terminal 2. The group from Stop Expansion at Scottish Airports (SESA), including a legal observer and two photographers, were leaving the airport after holding a banner for a photograph outside Terminal 1 when a police van and police car pulled up and arrested 4 of the group.

Late into the night, riot police later went to the homes of the arrested without warrants. On Thursday the 5 were charged with obstructing normal airport business. All of the accused deny the charges. The group believes that those arrested were targetted because SESA is calling for a public non-violent peaceful protest at the airport on October 10.

Amelia Birrell, had riot police at her door after midnight saying that they wanted to question her son, Robbie. She said: "I think that this justice system is a joke when it locks up peaceful individuals until 6pm the next day when they are talking about such serious measures as climate change. We were made to feel like criminals when riot police searched around the whole of our house in the middle of the night. I know that the airport is a sensitive place but they are all passionate individuals worried about the future of our country and they were doing nothing to cause any disturbance. I am proud of my son, we are supposed to have freedom of speech in this country and such heavy handed policing is disproportionate and hypocritical."

This is not the first time that Scottish anti-airport expansion campaigners have been subject to heavy-handed policing tactics. In January 2009 Geoff Lamb, a pensioner from Aberdeen was been held in a cell overnight for innocently writing 'you fly, we die' in the snow in food dye. Later in 2009, Plane Stupid exposed a massive police operation to bribe and infiltrate peaceful protest groups.

The disproportionate tactics we have seen by Strathclyde police mirror those infamously used by the Metropolitan police. Arrested for voicing concerns about the aviation industry’s massive and growing contribution to climate change? Who are the real criminals here?

Source: Flickr

For several years now we've sat by and listened as MP after MSP pledged to do something about climate change. So far, they've achieved sod all, and time is running out. It's crunch time: if the authorities won't make climate change policy work, we need to, openly and together. But how, you ask? Well, we're going to start by shutting down Glasgow airport on October 10.

We've formed a new coalition, Stop Expansion at Scottish Airports, and we're calling on anyone who believes in a sustainable future to join us. There have been a number of public actions against climate change in England, but this is the first in Scotland.

We've got to do something about flying. The Air Transport White Paper and the Scottish Climate Change Bill go in opposite directions. One forecasts a massive increase in passengers and the other demands a 42% reduction in greenhouse gases. It's the politics of the madhouse.

An increasing number of people will not stand by and watch airports blast more and more emissions into the atmosphere. We will not let the airlines and the aviation industry destroy any hope of reaching targets defined in the "world leading" Climate Change Bill.

We're targeting Glasgow airport because it's the perfect example of expansion plans gone mad. Over two-thirds of flights are to airports within the UK and half of those are to London. It's right next to a major population centre, with thousands of flights over already-deprived communities. But our problem is with the industry, not passengers, which is why we've given everyone so much notice.

So form a group, get dreaming, and get advice on safe ways to plan effective action. We'll see you on October 10.

Source: Flickr

On the day the world's leaders were to release their global emissions target, Plane Stupid Scotland unveiled a new sign welcoming people to Glasgow Airport. Giant letters read "T2 closed" and "Closed for Ethical Rethink", pointing to the increasingly airport.

The action is the first in a growing campaign to keep Terminal 2 shut for good. It was closed over the winter as a cost saving measure after passenger numbers fell by 11.3% to 7.2 million. Glasgow airport operates a huge number of short haul and domestic flights.

Local residents have had fewer sleepless nights due to the decreased air traffic and the airport's emissions have also reduced from the 618,539 tonnes of Co2 it emitted in 2008 (although unsurprisingly BAA won't tell us by how much). This trend must continue if we're to meet our emissions targets, or the "world's greatest Climate Change Bill" (copyright Scottish Parliament) will become the world's biggest embarrassment.

Reggie Whittaker, who lives by Glasgow airport explained: "T2 really is plane stupid. It's unsustainable and unnecessary."

Source: Flickr

Last week the managing director of Edinburgh Airport, Gordon Dewar, became chairman of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG). Dewar talks interchangeably about the needs of the airport and tourist industry. Surely increasing tourism means expanding the airport to allow more passengers to fly here from abroad?

It's not quite as simple as that. Firstly, British people fly twice as much as anyone else in the world. We do this because we're an island, but also because the aviation industry is such a powerful lobbyist. The impact on our tourism industry is dire: each year we spend £20 billion more abroad than foriegn tourists spend here. Visitors from overseas only make up 28% of the passengers flying to Edinburgh. The rest are Brits returning home.

This aviation-driven tourism strategy is unsustainable and embarassing. Remember the Homecoming campaign? Instead of empowering the managing director of the City’s airport we should be encouraging British people to holiday at home. Putting Dewar in charge of tourism is like leaving the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

The appointment puts BAA in an incredibly strong position to fight any increase in passenger duty or tourism taxes. It will allow the airport free reign to promote its expansion plans, which would lead to more noise and carbon emissions. And by equating itself with tourism, you can be sure that they won't be short of cash for expansion. Roll over while we rub your belly BAA.