Having been banned from the fields of Heathrow by a court injunction last week, protest group Plane Stupid have set up their own climate camp – under the wing of an Airbus A380 currently being transported along the River Dee.
International aviation is the UK’s fastest-growing source of carbon emissions, and yet the government isn't even accounting for them. Peter Lockley explains why we urgently need to call a halt to airport expansion
The High Court today rejected BAA’s call for a broad injunction against the Camp for Climate Action, instead granting a limited court order preventing direct action by Plane Stupid
Late last week, the UK signed up to an historic contract between the EU and the US. Known as the EU Open Skies deal, it lifts restrictions on the number of airlines which can operate transatlantic flights from Europe to the US. John Stewart, the Chair of the charity AirportWatch, explains why this is a deal from a bygone age with an horrific cost for the planet...
The publication of the government's draft Climate Change Bill this week signalled the latest round of the escalating competition between David Cameron and Tony Blair to take the title of climate change champion of the world. Following hard on the EU measures, the government's bill set out more radical targets than before and promises to deliver them – a promise that will be reinforced by a new committee of independent auditors.
Record demand for cheap flights has resulted in 21 (mostly regional) airports publishing expansion plans in the last 5 years. They have been spurred on to do so by the Government’s plans to raise plane passenger numbers from 200 million in 2003 to 500 million by 2030.
Sir Richard Branson is offering a $25 million prize to the first scientist who can demonstrate a way to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
Tony Blair yesterday reiterated his belief that "you will not get people to give up the motor car or cheap air travel," and that he would 'stop short' of introducing carbon quotas.
Today BAA, the UK airport operator, announced its plans for a second terminal at Stansted airport. The plans, backed by the Department of Transport and costing £2.2 billion, will allow Stansted to carry an additional 33 million passengers by 2030 giving it a total of 68 million passengers a year - larger than Heathrow today.
In the first of the Ecologist's new 'If I...' series, the co-founder of aviation campaign group Plane Stupid imagines what he would do if he were in charge of the government's aviation policy.
The government insists that Britain needs to massively expand its airports to cope with a
rapidly growing aviation industry. In actual fact, the sector’s boom years could be over
Since defeating the government in 1984 over its compulsory warble fly erradication scheme, Mark Purdey has been travelling the world to find the real cause of BSE and vCJD. His conclusions are controversial, fascinating, and if proved right, will cost the government millions in compensation.
