Heathrow Expansion to be 'Green'

Heathrow Expansion to be 'Green'

news.bbc.co.uk

Mr Hoon outlined a series of measures to limit noise and emissions but said doing nothing to expand capacity at Heathrow would "damage our economy".

The debate was halted and local MP John McDonnell thrown out after he grabbed the mace and shouted "disgrace".

He told MPs the government was satisfied environmental targets could be met, as it would put an initial cap on additional flights from the new runway of 125,000, would ensure new slots were "green slots" used by only the "cleanest planes" and would set a new target on aircraft emissions - that they would be lower in 2050 than in 2005.

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So the chocolate ration went up to 20 grams? This is the Mr Hoon who told our parliament that the vote to go to war in Iraq was not binding, and after the vote that it was. How on Earth can putting up airport capacity actually be green?

And, no, I will not fall for the 'stacking of planes causing emissions' argument. The new capacity will get used up and we will be in the same position.

I wonder if the vote on Heathrow will be 'non-binding' Brown funded the Iraq war and was in that scam up to his eyeballs.....

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Expansion and growth in London cannot be stopped, enviornmental concerns or not.

If the Green Lobby is really concerned they will do something about the need for affordable and efficent public transport in Southeast England. I suspect that the millions of cars are on the road do a hell of a lot more damage then the planes.

They will kick and scream, but in the end, there WILL be a third runway - best to use the resources of the green lobby for something which they can win.

Originally posted by Merigold
Expansion and growth in London cannot be stopped, enviornmental concerns or not.

If the Green Lobby is really concerned they will do something about the need for affordable and efficent public transport in Southeast England. I suspect that the millions of cars are on the road do a hell of a lot more damage then the planes.

They will kick and scream, but in the end, there WILL be a third runway - best to use the resources of the green lobby for something which they can win.

I don't agree with you about runway three at all. However, your broader point of Greens taking on the fights they cannot win has some resonance with me.

Why does everything have to fly into Heathrow anyway? A great many people land there then jump straight onto trains and coaches heading away from London to other destinations.
There is then all the freight that flies into Heathrow. why not have a dedicated Freight airport? A lot of the freight, like a lot of passengers, head away from London to other parts of the country. There are also several inactive / ex-military airfields with long runways that could be developed into dedicated freight hubs, thus reducing the air traffic into Heathrow and the constant stream of heavy goods vehicles in and out of the airport.

I have heard MP's speak of the kudos in having Heathrow have the "worlds busiest airport" tag as some badge of honour. Why is this so important to them?

Originally posted by Britguy
I have heard MP's speak of the kudos in having Heathrow have the "worlds busiest airport" tag as some badge of honour. Why is this so important to them?

Politicans like the words 'big,' 'strong,' and 'tough.'

I remember when the Tories were about to go out of office in 1997, at the previous party conference they announced their 'big' idea. Extend the EU single market to NAFTA. Geographically it was 'big' but as an idea it wasn't really that original, nor did it address people's needs at the time, but they still thought it was a sure fire winner. Just before the election, they had a 'strong' idea of building a couple of aircraft carriers. I don't know what polling indicates this to be sensible, but they all do it. And to fellow politicians certainly it sounds grand. Maybe the three terms could be applied to their egos and developed from there.

Problem is that Greenpeace have just purchased a piece of land right in the middle and are refusing to sell it.

Its not going to be as easy as the govt thinks as their plans look to be blocked or at least sidelined while legal action over land purchases are fought out.

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