No 3rd runway: Zac Goldsmith joins Airplot

Conservative Party green advisor Zac Goldsmith explains why he's part of Airplot, a group who've bought land in the middle of Heathrow airport's proposed 3rd runway, and who say they will never sell it to BAA or allow the airport operator's bulldozers onto their site.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• greenpeace
• heathrow
• climatechange
• airplot
• 3rdrunway
• zacgoldsmith

[GreenpeaceUK]

Fantastic news - climate-wrecking plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been axed!

The new Cameron/Clegg government has confirmed that it will not only scrap the third runway at Heathrow, but also refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted. So all our campaigning has finally won out - and a huge thank you is due to everyone who's written to their MP or taken part in one of the many protests demanding that the plan be shelved.

We won!

[GreenpeaceUK]

charlieiscool1000 Please feel free to make your point as passionately as you like, but without resorting to offensive langueage or abuse, other wise your post will be deleted

[Insanindemembrane]

To Tashadragon

Thanks, but this is not a qiz. I don't want just a one word answer - I want an explanation as well. In the year since I posed this question I haven't received and explanation from anyone on the Greenpeace channel. I look forward to yours however.

[GreenpeaceUK]

@Insanindemembrane Sorry no one answered your "suppose you could drive to Japan etc" question. It didn't really make any sense, seeing that it's an impossible supposition, but in any case as Tashdragon pointed out, the plane is still more polluting. But to get from here to Japan the obvious option is to fly.

75% of the traffic the 3rd runway will handle will be short-haul flights - Newcastle, Edinburgh, Paris, Manchester - places easily accessible via rail at a fraction of the carbon cost.

[GreenpeaceUK]

R3 would just be the first in a series of airport expansions intended to drastically incease UK air traffic (and, per head, we British already fly more than any other nation), which would make it impossible to meet our national target of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.

Plus it won't solve current airport congestion problems. Remember that the road-building programmes of the last 40 years have massively increased traffic on the roads, and the end result has been even worse congestion.

[mixmatosis]

There has already been a substantial drop in the numbers of flights booked in the UK. The argument for a third runway is ridiculous.

[GreenpeaceUK]

Yes indeedy. 4.2 Million fewer passengers flew from UK airports in 2008 (3.4 million fewer from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted alone)...

[kitt998]

@GreenpeaceUK I'm not sure it's wise for Greenpeace to have 'winning' as its aim. Important issues such as these are not about one group or another winning, it is about society gaining.

[Airbus294]

@GreenpeaceUK In some cases, per person, cars are more polluting over long distances. For example, The Boeing 767 flying to New York would (per 4 people) use half the amount of fuel as a 4 seat car.

[Insanindemembrane]

@GreenpeaceUK Basically its like this. I book about two return flights a year. I don't who you are at the other end of cyberspace or how often you fly, but I'm willing to bet its more than me. And you have the cheek to lecture me. Get a real job.

[Insanindemembrane]

@Tashadragon

[Insanindemembrane]

Thanks, but this isn't a quiz. I don't want a one word answer. I want an explanation too. And in over a year since I posted this question on the Greenpeace website I haven't got one. However I look forward to yours.