[sustran] Re: Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals

[Eric Bruun]

I note that the author talks about "Lear Jet liberals" but how many actually fly on 
private jets? Flying in a commercial airliner across the ocean is not at all the same.

I also note that "only 16 percent" for the US (I think this is actually low) is an enormous absolute
amount, as the US starts from a much, much higher consumption level in 1990 than Spain.

Eric Bruun

-----Original Message-----
>From: "Guevarra, Joselito Lomada" <cvegjl at nus.edu.sg>
>Sent: Sep 27, 2006 9:47 PM
>To: et3 at et3.com, Global 'South' Sustainable Transport <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
>Subject: [sustran] Re: Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals
>
>Ahh...the wonderful prose of journalism. It's just a pity that such
>rantings won't do the planet any good either...tsk tsk...
>
>Good morning everyone!
>
>jojo
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: sustran-discuss-bounces+cvegjl=nus.edu.sg at list.jca.apc.org
>[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+cvegjl=nus.edu.sg at list.jca.apc.org] On
>Behalf Of Daryl Oster
>Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 8:55 AM
>To: eric.britton at ecoplan.org; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'
>Subject: [sustran] Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals
>
>
>ARTICLE:  Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals (Global Warming)
>
>Lifestyles of Lear Jet liberals
>
>By Debra J. Saunders
>Monday, September 25, 2006
>
>http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DebraJSaunders/2006/09/25/lifestyles_
>of_l
>ear_jet_liberals
>
>
>Limousine liberals, move over. You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet
>liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar across
>the globe fighting global warming. 
>
>Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative
>conference in New York. For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the
>meet that has it all -- the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about
>poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former
>President Clinton. 
>
>You see, they care so much more about the environment than President
>Bush because they support the Kyoto global warming pact, which they
>believe would save the planet from greenhouse gases, if only Bush had
>not rejected it.
>(Never mind that Clinton never asked the Senate to ratify the pact,
>probably because senators voted 95 to 0 for a resolution rejecting any
>treaty that exempted China and India.) 
>
>And forget that Kyoto has the depth of a cowboy movie set. The
>storefronts look like a general store and saloon, but when actors walk
>through the door, there's nothing there. The overwhelming majority of
>industrialized nations that signed onto Kyoto amidst much fanfare
>haven't cut their greenhouse gases. In June, the United Nations reported
>that only two Western European signatories -- Britain and Sweden -- are
>on target to meet their greenhouse-gas reduction targets, which call for
>a worldwide reduction of 5 percent below 1990 levels in 2012. 
>
>Spain is spewing more than 40 percent above its 1990 levels. Canada is
>30 percent over. By comparison, Dubya's America looks good -- emitting
>16 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. 
>
>No wonder Lear Jet liberals love Kyoto: It allows them to look like they
>really, really care about the environment -- and have their contrails,
>too. 
>
>The big news of the CGI was an announcement by Sir Richard Branson,
>founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, that he would donate $3 billion over
>10 years -- his personal profits from his airline and train businesses
>-- to global warming research. That's more money than I'll ever see, or
>spend on R&D, so bully for Branson. Still, it should be noted that
>Branson said some of the money will go back to his own corporations'
>research. That's not quite charity. 
>
>Besides, Branson hails from a country where some enviros believe flying
>is worse than a mega-SUV. The bishop of London recently referred to
>flying abroad on holiday as "a symptom of sin." 
>
>Europeans are acutely aware of the effect flying has on one's carbon
>footprint. Flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in
>the United Kingdom. As the Guardian reported, greenhouse gas emissions
>from flying more than doubled from 1990 to 2004, to 5.5 percent of the
>United Kingdom's emissions. It would not surprise me if someday Great
>Britain legislates a limit on short flights -- say, London to Edinburgh
>or Paris, trips you can make in a car or train about as fast as flying.
>That would be bad news for Virgin Express. 
>
>In California, Branson has a soul mate in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
>Critics hit the governator for signing global-warming bills while owning
>four Hummers, but his biggest green sin is dibs on a private plane.
>Flying is my biggest item in my carbon footprint calculation, and I
>don't own a jet. Flying is probably the biggest personal polluter for
>people who take more than 10 roundtrips a year. So all those Hollywood
>stars who preen about their Priuses can see themselves as eco-virtuous
>only by ignoring their plane travel. 
>
>They are in a pickle. How can they be beautiful people if they don't jet
>to an island for a week or two of eco-tourism?
>
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>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South').