Thursday 27 July 2023

Advertising a 'Fry Up'?

Andrew Simms (Sussex University) notes that environmentalists describe 'jetting off to the sun' as the 'fastest way to fry the planet' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/27/airline-emissions-climate-crisis-holiday-advertising) Given the current raging wildfires in Southern Europe, Simms finds it inappropriate that the UK's online platforms, magazines and newspapers are now stuffed with advertisements for flight-based holidays. Air travel is a major contributor to the 'greenhouse gases', increasing the risk of the very wildfires at holiday destinations. Pre-pandemic, the UK's aviation 'business' generated circa 40 millions tonnes of carbon dioxide, annually. Its current emissions levels exceed that. Carbon emissions are, of course, only part of jet-generated pollution. Jet aircraft also release volatiles, particulates and water vapour 'contrails', high in the atmosphere. This form of transport isn't going to go 'green' anytime soon. Simms opines that we should be trying to wean folk off air travel and on to the trains. Re-directing some of aviation's enormous tax breaks, might be helpful. Simms points to parallels between aviation and tobacco. Cigarette sales were once massively advertised and used sports sponsorship to maintain their markets. Tobacco products (but strangely, not vapes) now have to carry images of medical damage, caused by their use. Tobacco was also stripped of its sports 'sponsorship'. It seems very unlikely but aviation's lucrative sponsorship deals could be controlled in a similar manner. Even more unlikely, would be forcing both paper and electronic airtickets, to carry images of the environmental damage they help cause. Now there's an idea!

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