Sometimes the blog entries just write themselves. Mark Ellingham, a man who helped increase travel as a form of leisure is now telling people they should stop taking flights. It gets more ridiculous, however:
Mark Ellingham, founder of the Rough Guides and the man who encouraged a generation of travellers to pack a rucksack and explore the world, has compared the damage done by tourism to the impact of the tobacco industry.
Ellingham now says travelling is so environmentally destructive that there is no such thing as a genuinely ethical holiday. He wants the industry to educate travellers about the damage their holidays do to the environment. The development he regrets most is the public's appetite for what he calls 'binge-flying'. [...]
'It is hard to say the positive impact travelling has can ever outweigh the damage done by simply travelling to the destination,' he said. 'Balancing all the positives and negatives, I'm not convinced there is such a thing as a "responsible" or "ethical" holiday.'
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Ellingham is calling for a £100 green tax on all flights to Europe and Africa, and £250 on flights to the rest of the world. He also wants investment to create a low-carbon economy, as well as a moratorium on airport expansion. [...]
Even so, he is keenly aware of the incongruity of making pronouncements about how people should moderate their behaviour. 'I acknowledge that I'm speaking about all of this from an apparently contradictory position but it's a question of working with what's realistic: if Rough Guides was to disappear overnight, I don't think anybody would fly any less. I think it's an entirely ethical position of mine to work with what's realistic by encouraging people to moderate the amount they fly, rather than stop altogether,' he said. 'It's up to people to make up their own minds about how they live their lives.'
While determined to encourage people to reduce the number of flights they take, Ellingham admits he has no intention of stopping himself, and he does not expect others to do so either. 'As a "recovering travel writer", I fly less than I would like to, but more than I know that ethically I should. The deal I have made with myself is to limit the number of flights I take to one long-haul and two or three shorter flights each year,' he said. 'I very much respect the purist attitudes of those who say they will never fly again, but it's totally unrealistic to expect the majority to do the same.'
So he doesn't expect anyone to listen to what he says, won't heed his own advice but since he's got in his own flying time as much as he has, Ellingham has decided it's OK to preach.
How is this any different from a former male prostitute who turns into a priest who rails against extramarital sex while continuing to engage in it albeit not as often?
Hat tip: Instapundit.
—Matthew Sheffield is the creator and editor of NewsBusters.
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Flying binges?!Not many reg
May 7, 2007 - 21:12 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveFlying binges?!
Not many regular people go flying just for the hell of it. It costs money...lots of money to fly a lot. I only fly when I have to as I am sure 99.9% if not more of the population do the same.
This guy needs to stick with writing his travel information rather than pontificating on how much damage is done by people that follow his travel advice.
"Believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine." --Frank Bullitt
and the jet-lag in the mornin
May 7, 2007 - 21:17 ET by botgand the jet-lag in the morning, ya know once ya take that first flight and ya can't stop till yav'ad at least a sixer.
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.
Exactly! The only people ri
May 7, 2007 - 21:46 ET by MPayneExactly! The only people rich enough to "binge" fly are lousy reporters flying to the next disaster/Bush bashfest and spoiled Hollywood whiners and politicians complaining this, that, and the other...
" Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it. " - William T. Sherman
While determined to encourage
May 7, 2007 - 21:14 ET by BlondeWhile determined to encourage people to reduce the number of flights they take, Ellingham admits he has no intention of stopping himself, and he does not expect others to do so either. 'As a "recovering travel writer", I fly less than I would like to, but more than I know that ethically I should. The deal I have made with myself is to limit the number of flights I take to one long-haul and two or three shorter flights each year,' he said.
Um, Matt,
I have to lodge a protest here. You forgot to put a big "HYPOCRICY WARNING" above this post.
Do as I say, not as I do....are you quite certain this wasn't ManBearPig writing this article?
How can this man function in public? What an idiot!
Blonde - It's worse than be
May 8, 2007 - 00:17 ET by Dee BunkBlonde - It's worse than being a hypocrite, people like this expect the lowly masses to cut back on their travel just so they can travel more. Instead of “do as I say not as I do”, it’s “do as I say so I can do what I do”. If they put extra costs and taxes on flying, it won't deter people like him one bit. It will only affect the dumb hicks that they always say are ignorant because they haven't traveled enough.
Just like Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Daley wanting to tax commuters, that way the elite won’t have to deal with public transportation or traffic jams.
This is what make no sense: I
May 8, 2007 - 02:47 ET by zfThis is what make no sense: I'm sure he knows only a few people can "binge" travel and out of those people even fewer would want to do so. So who is his message directed at? His family members? People who get paid to fly? It just seems a pointless little rant.
His rant is seemly directed a
May 8, 2007 - 08:10 ET by dscottHis rant is seemly directed at the average American vacation goer, however as has been pointed out, the average American doesn't have that kind of money to "binge" fly. Now who I wonder has that kind of money, hmmm, maybe the same people who use 20 times the electricity of the average American household??? rich people like...Dr. Al Gore???
I believe the Greens are conflicted, they enjoy the monied life and all it brings but at the same time, they recognize their excessive consumption is wasteful. Sounds like the classic liberal self inflicted guilt trip. As with all liberal guilt trips, they always drag us the poor and middle class into it so they won't feel they are the primary group responsible. They lessen their guilt by pointing the finger at all of society (self righteous preaching), when they themselves are responsible for the bulk of the problem. Does anyone wonder why God in the Old Testament hated the self righteous?
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
If the peasants would just
May 8, 2007 - 09:35 ET by Dee BunkIf the peasants would just get in line then they could have their utopia. Plenty of First class spots on airplanes, no traffic except for them in major cities, less tourists at their favorite vacation spots etc etc etc.
They like to make people think they care about the poor by raising income tax on the rich but always sneak in tons of other taxes that hurt the poor, not the rich. Like the gas tax, cigarette tax, property tax, sales tax, social security and medicare taxes, lottery taxes, tollway taxes and many more.
Now they want additional airline and toll taxes that only hurt the middle class and the poor. They get cleaner air, more elbow room and fewer lines while the rest of us give up everything.
I think Mr. Ellingham does no
May 7, 2007 - 21:28 ET by JABI think Mr. Ellingham does not care to be classified as a hypocrite with the following statement;
"I acknowledge that I'm speaking about all of this from an apparently contradictory position but it's a question of working with what's realistic:"
I am courious as to what this gentlemans realization (AKA, grasp on reality) truly is?
"Too bad Ignorance isn't painful..."
Sheesh, you send your kids to
May 7, 2007 - 21:29 ET by zfSheesh, you send your kids to college expecting them to get a higher education and they waste all their time binge flying.
I fly no more than possible
May 7, 2007 - 21:39 ET by terrigI fly no more than possible because I hate to fly anymore. However, if I had the time and the money, I would be jetting off to England before it becomes a country that no one will recognize in a few years. It's always interesting to see these dorks telling us what to do but then choose not to do these things themselves. Screw them and their ideas.
What is it that makes these
May 7, 2007 - 21:44 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveWhat is it that makes these people think they have a solution to a problem but, somehow they never consider themselves as part of the problem that supposedly needs a solution?
"Believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine." --Frank Bullitt
My first commercial airline f
May 7, 2007 - 21:48 ET by Del DolemonteMy first commercial airline flight was in 1954 in a DC-3, and my last one was in an Airbus recently. There are simply some places that you absolutely must fly to, or else you can't get there (this primarily applies to islands like Hawaii and the Caribbean). If I decide to go to those places, I take a plane. But that's like once every few years. If I can get someplace distant by train, I do so. Or bus.
I think what this guy is whining about is people who have to constantly have to travel to off beat places that require an aeroplane to get to. He may have a point.
As for tourism, I lived for 3 years in Hawaii and have also spent time in Jamaica, and both have been helped but also hurt by the travel business. More of the latter, I'm afraid.
Hawaii has had a world-class ICE (crystal meth) epidemic for many years now, due to their extremely liberal legal system, and the high-end all-inclusive I went to on Jamaica was surrounded by tall concrete walls and concertina wire-and then slums for miles.
Great. First, fast food wa
May 7, 2007 - 21:50 ET by motherbeltGreat. First, fast food was the equivalent of the tobacco industry. Now it's travel. There was a Harvard professor who talked of kids growing up in a "toxic food environment." Now this guy says "travelling is so environmentally destructive that there is no such thing as a genuinely ethical holiday."
He wants the industry to educate travellers about the damage their holidays do to the environment. Does he want warnings on travel brochures, like on cigarette packs? "Warning: your flight may contribute to global climate change."
And in true liberal fashion, he wants a tax to "fix" it. Sort of like an "air travel offset"? Maybe he could get legislation passed, like they did with the tobacco industry: make the airlines pay for adverisements that tell people not to use their product, or in this case, their service.
I guess I'm saving the plan
May 7, 2007 - 22:02 ET by lnthompI guess I'm saving the planet in spite of myself. The last time my wife and I flew anywhere together was October, 2001 from San Diego to Baltimore and back. More recently, about a year ago my wife took a one-way flight from Portland, OR to Phoenix and drove a car (Honda Civic, 36+ mpg hwy) back from there.
Maybe I can talk some morons into paying me for the flights I don't take, to assuage their guilt over the flights they do take.
Lee T.
U.S. Navy (ret.) / Vancouver, Washington
The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain
lnthomp
May 8, 2007 - 00:48 ET by SportPoliticsBy golly lnthomp, you're a walking talking carbon credit.
I'd say $5,000.00 a year worth, or so. We can't underprice because the value of mother earth is priceless.
I'm working up a carbon credit agreement whereby I take one maaloxx anti-gas per week, and by the end of the year Al Gore owes me $500.00.
The commandments of men are w
May 7, 2007 - 23:17 ET by jonathanandersonThe commandments of men are well covered in one particular book ...
Matthew 15:9
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.
Mark 7:7-8
(7) Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.
(8) For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Colossians 2:20-23
(20) Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments [false standards] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances [dogmatizo - subject to the maxims and tenets of a fool],
(21) (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
(22) Which all are to perish with the using;) after THE COMMANDMENTS AND DOCTRINES OF MEN?
(23) Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.
Titus 1:12-14
(12) One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, "The Cretians [first century liberals] are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies."
(13) This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
(14) Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and COMMANDMENTS OF MEN, that turn from the truth.
Air Passenger Duty
May 8, 2007 - 00:58 ET by d1carterThe UK has been charging an "environmental tax" called an Air Passenger Duty that has just been doubled. It is about what this buffoon suggests. You have to pay this tax when leaving the UK to pay for the environmental damage done by the airlines. This guy's arrogance is simply unbelievable.
As if expanding the size of
May 8, 2007 - 06:48 ET by sarcasmoAs if expanding the size of any government has ever actually helped the environment...
JMR
I never liked flying, even
May 8, 2007 - 06:47 ET by sarcasmoI never liked flying, even before 9/11. These days the Thousands Standing Around make my life so miserable that I only fly when I must. This leads to increased use of one way tickets (think: SSSSSSearches, where they've managed not to notice my forgotten-by-me pocketknife, repeatedly). I am also on the ransack list, so they go through my luggage every time, occasionally stealing or breaking items. The idea of "binge flying" sounds about as pleasant as "binge dentistry sans anesthetics" to me, and I suspect that's how many people feel these days.
JMR
Oh flying's fine. It's cras
May 8, 2007 - 06:57 ET by Jack BauerOh flying's fine. It's crashing I don't like!
We should all just sit in fro
May 8, 2007 - 07:52 ET by MivvisWe should all just sit in front of our T.V.'s and worship Al Gore. 24/7
A pilot friend of mine told
May 8, 2007 - 10:41 ET by MightyMouthA friend who is a pilot told me a good rule of thumb is: "If your number of takeoffs equal your number of landings, you're having a good day".
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
sarc,What on earth did you do
May 8, 2007 - 07:59 ET by Blondesarc,
What on earth did you do to get on the "ransack" list?
I'm not sure, but these day
May 8, 2007 - 08:14 ET by sarcasmoI'm not sure, but these days my thoughtcrimes are many...The odd thing is how damn often I forget I'm wearing the knife & accidentally get it into the "secure" part of the system. It happens over and over (including once with a hand-search!) as I'm always in a mad rush to get to the airport and wait, etc. so I'm always forgetting it's there. Of course, once it's in the system, the knife makes everyone safer (believe me, I only want to get to the destination, and I'd happily attack any hijacker in the way).
JMR
Accidentally get it into the
May 8, 2007 - 08:39 ET by rimskyAccidentally get it into the "secure" part of the system? You mean to say that you actually walk through the metal detector with a knife on your person? How in hell does that happen? Accidentally? What.. do you trip as you go through the detector.. sorry, I'm having a little fun with this. I guess you're saying that the detectors just don't work sometimes, eh? Mmmm.. Sometimes I think I could walk through naked and the damn thing would go off!
One day, pre 9/11, I was bo
May 8, 2007 - 09:32 ET by sarcasmoOne day, pre 9/11, I was bored in an airport. With cooperation of the guards at security, I began to test the parameters of their metal detector using various combinations of coins & walking through it at various speeds. It turns out that it detects not just metals, but jerky motions (makes sense, when you think about it, as hijackers would tend to be nervous and hence make such motions for the detector). Anyway, the "Accidentally" part happens when you're in your mid 40s and have worn a pocketknife clipped on the outside(!) of your pocket since about age 15, constantly, and if you walk slowly and smoothly thru the detectors you tend not to trip 'em with as little metal as a small pocketknife or a few coins. Metal detectors, like government issued identity cards and much of what passes for "security" these days, are at least as much about a feeling of security as opposed to actual security, and few people wish to intelligently differentiate between the two. And yes, the detectors also just don't work sometimes, occasionally with guards still-pretending they do. I've seen that, too.
JMR
Well, duh!
May 8, 2007 - 09:55 ET by RJWell, duh! If I was in security and some guy wanted to "test the paramaters of their metal detector", that guy's name would go on my report.
Heh. The funny thing was, t
May 8, 2007 - 10:08 ET by sarcasmoHeh. The funny thing was, they never took my name, we all just talked about what combinations of change & walking speed would set it off, and we discovered the speed-aspect accidentally. This was a long time before 9/11, and security people weren't thinking the same back then.
JMR
Even back then it would have been easy, sarky
May 8, 2007 - 10:31 ET by RJNaturally, I don't know the details, but they still may have taken your name, sarky. A couple of years ago, I had an incident going through the metal detectors and reacted emotionally. No one "took my name", but on the plane some guy sat next to me who had "security" written all over him.
Even pre 9/11, it would have been a simple thing to get your name.
Then in that case, their be
May 9, 2007 - 10:29 ET by sarcasmoThen in that case, their behavior towards me REALLY doesn't make any security sense. (Luggage-not-body searches every time, and when my body's finally searched it's ineffective and they don't find the knife clipped to the outside of my pocket??Sheesh!)
JMR
I'm not trying to defend them, sarky
May 9, 2007 - 10:34 ET by RJI'm not trying to defend them, sarky. I agree that they, being a government entity, can be incredibly stupid. I'm just suggesting a possible point that started the process you find yourself in now.
I am also on the ransack list
May 8, 2007 - 08:19 ET by dscottI am also on the ransack list, so they go through my luggage every time, occasionally stealing or breaking items.
So what got you on the list Sarc? Do you look like Snidley Whiplash or Cheech Marin? Or is it that chip on your Libertarian shoulder they like to knock off? snicker, snicker, snicker, LOL
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
I probably said/wrote somet
May 8, 2007 - 08:29 ET by sarcasmoI probably said/wrote something politically-incorrect at some point...But believe me any chip you imagine is simply not there. I never say anything to them in the airport, I don't call them the "Thousands Standing Around," I don't make jokes when they do something stupid, I don't talk about actual security vs the feeling of security, I don't tell them when we both miss the knife (again), etc.
JMR
I doubt it's anything you sai
May 8, 2007 - 08:50 ET by dscottI doubt it's anything you said. The only way they would know to give you extra special scrutiny without consulting a data base is your mannerisms and how you dress. Apparently you fit a "profile" that they have been trained to pick out. Next time you fly, try this, have a friend or relative pick out something for you to wear, no input from you at all. See if there is a difference in treatment.
Then try a change in your mannerism, that's hard, but try thinking of something really funny, maybe read a joke book or the spy vs spy comics or whatever tickles you before going into the airport, then dwell on what you read until you get to the gate. See if there is a difference in treatment with that approach.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
Sorry, I've already tried t
May 8, 2007 - 09:35 ET by sarcasmoSorry, I've already tried that. 6+ flights, 6+ bag searches (person searches only on one way flights, which is "normal" for everyone, I'm talking bag-searches/theft/breakage in my case). Various dress, same smile pasted on face constantly. With me, it's not a coincidence, trust me...I really do tend to upset some people.
JMR
Is he just railing against Go
May 8, 2007 - 10:16 ET by ucIs he just railing against Gore's genes and Gore's irresistable need to push "nick of time" nicotene when none such is really needed or healthy?
Where is Ellingham >> the still right right or just another soon to be right that once was left?