Darren Johnson - Copenhagen and aviation
As part of our series of comment pieces on Copenhagen, Darren Johnson, the party's trade and industry spokesperson, gives his view on the possible expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick airports:
Gordon Brown says today, in the Guardian, that: "Now we need to create wealth and quality of life, not by putting carbon into the atmosphere but by taking it out. We need to build, in short, a low carbon economy." He needs to prove this by changing the government's policy on aviation. The House of Commons Transport select committee announced today that it will back a third runway and an extra terminal at Heathrow. The committee also endorses a 2nd runway at Gatwick, and the government's decision that these moves will bring "economic benefits to the UK."
The Green Party believes that new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick would indicate a tremendous lack of commitment by ministers to cutting emissions. With a third runway, Heathrow would go from handling 67 million people a year to 135 million. The government will not meet its target of limiting aviation's carbon dioxide emissions to 2005 levels by 2050 if it allows these moves.
The 'economic benefits' brought by Heathrow expansion are highly contested and completely unproven. Indeed, airport expansion could present a considerable cost, in terms of the price of the extra carbon dioxide generated. What we need instead are massively improved rail links across the country, and better lower-carbon services to mainland Europe, rather than perpetuating the absurd situation where domestic flights are often cheaper.
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