The Flight of Reason

George Monbiot.

Sorry, but you cannot build new runways and prevent climate breakdown.

The correct question is not “where?”. It is “whether?”. And the correct answer is no. The prime minister has just announced that her cabinet will recommend where a new runway should be built. Then there will be a consultation on the decision. There is only one answer that doesn’t involve abandoning our climate change commitments and our moral scruples: nowhere.

The inexorable logic that should rule out new sources of oil, gas and coal also applies to the expansion of airports. In a world seeking to prevent climate breakdown, there is no remaining scope for extending infrastructure that depends on fossil fuels. The prime minister cannot uphold the Paris agreement on climate change, that comes into force next month, and permit the runway to be built.

Read the latest piece from Guardian columnist George Monbiot - “The Flight of Reason.”

(And I’m sorry too. There is presently much discussion (debate/controversy) in Melbourne about building a light rail to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport, but the conversation really should be about what steps we need to take to close the airport down and in doing so make a huge step forward in reducing Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions, which on a per capita basis are the worst in the world – Robert McLean)