Coal or Aviation?

Gwynne Dyer's article regarding choosing to focus on the threats from Coal or the threats from Aviation makes some good points. She quotes James Hansen,

"Coal is 80 percent of the planet's problems," he said in an interview with The Observer. "You have to keep your eye on the ball and not waste your efforts. The number one enemy is coal and we should not forget that."


and discusses the third runway protests at Heathrow. I largely agree. We need to stay focused on leaving coal in the ground, whatever it takes. For most of us that will involve getting active in the effort to end our dependence on coal as well as reducing demand significantly in our personal lives. You could also install renewable energy on your home. But letting aviation off the hook completely seems a bit wrong headed. We need to deal with the problem on every front. We all need to fly less.

I say this, somewhat guiltily, at a moment in my life when flying is again becoming imminent as we are moving to Bermuda for a job and I will go the states to see my family while there. I have reduced my flying by almost 50% since moving to England and hope to make this next trip my last on an airliner but I still wish I had some other alternative. We investigated sea travel but the time of year was wrong even though we were prepared to pay more for it. I will however attempt to crew on a sailboat to the states for the family trip.

Anyway, read the article and judge for yourself.