The Government has ruled out creating a new airport north of Bristol  and rejected the idea of a Severnside airport on the Severn Estuary in  South East Wales. The Gloucestershire Green Party is calling upon  Gloucestershire residents to celebrate this success by supporting a "No  New Runways Bill", introduced into the House of Lords by Green Party  peer Lord Beaumont on 10th December 2003.

The Bill, officially called the Air Traffic Reduction Bill (1), would  require the government to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas  emissions from the aviation industry - which would mean limiting air  traffic itself.

Martin Whiteside, the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Stroud  and a Stroud District Councillor, said today: “We have avoided airport expansion in our 'backyard'. Now we need to make sure the noise, pollution and traffic problems associated with airport expansion are not inflicted upon other communities: not in anyone's back yard! Our aviation industry gets a tax break of over £9 billion a year. Then there are hidden costs of almost £4 billion a year, not to mention a balance-of-payments deficit of £11 billion a year attributable to tourism, most of which is by air. The Air Traffic Reduction Bill would
require:

- A 5% cut in aviation emissions by 2010, compared with 2000 levels.
- A 10% cut by 2015.
- A 50% cut by 2050.(2)
“Air traffic 'congestion charging' is supported by a wide range of environmental organizations including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (3), Friends of the Earth, Campaign to Protect Rural England and by the Institute of Public Policy Research. Since the British aviation industry shed 20,000 jobs April 2002-2003, figures for projected passenger increase must be regarded as bogus. By 2007, more people will be using Eurostar to reach the continent, cutting the demand for air travel.”

Every time we fly, we are helping to kill someone

Martin Whiteside continued; "Last week the World Health Organisation calculated that climate change is causing 150,000 deaths a year. This figure does not include deaths caused by drought and famine, plant and pests diseases and conflicts over natural resources, all of which are made worse by global warming. Aviation is the fastest growing cause of climate change. Every passenger on a return journey from Britain to Florida produces more carbon dioxide than the average motorist does in a year. Every time we fly, we are helping to kill someone. Aviation should pay its true costs in the economy and tackle its huge social and environmental downside. If that were to happen we would not need any of the governments planned expansion of air travel."

Notes:
1. Copies of the Bill are available from 020 7561 0282,
press@greenparty.org.uk">press@greenparty.org.uk .

2. See Emissions Charging at Major UK Airports, written by the party's head of media Dr Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, and more detailed reports dealing with some of the largest airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and Luton), at www.greenparty.org.uk/reports.

3. http://www.rspb.org.uk/policy/Economicdevelopment/whitepaper.asp