Saturday 25 September 2021

Who Causes More Damage?

A blind, paralympian gold medalist has been jailed for a year. The individual concerned, glued himself to the roof of a passenger jet at London's Heathrow airport. He was part of a demonstration for Extinction Rebellion against climate change (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/24/judge-issues-protest-warning-as-paralympian-jailed-for-plane-stunt). The trial judge said that protestors who disrupt people's lives "will face serious consequences". Three hundred and thirty-seven passengers missed their short-haul flight to Amsterdam. Profits of British Airways were measurably damaged. The flight of the disrupted passengers (I appreciate they will have simply taken a later connection) would have generated substantial quantities of 'greenhouse gases'. One can argue that the airline and the passengers were also 'disrupting people's lives'. Continued climate change will have serious consequences. Perhaps, when the man gets out of jail, he will have learned that disrupting people and hitting airline profits is much worse than aiding and abetting climate change?

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