tist, who knows a good business opportunity when he sees one, but has never been notea lot any green crcaentials. So what is he up to?
The promised money will come from the future profits of his travel companies, including a predicted 10 per cent yearly expansion of his hugely polluting long-haul Virgin Atlantic airline. How can this square with saving the planet?
Because, says Branson, the moncy will be invested (through his own company Virgin Fuels) in alternative 'clean' energy sources, specifically plant-derived biofuels.
The spin on this is that these derivatives are the carbon-neutral fuels of the future, enabling us all to fly around without limit in socalled 'eco-friendly' planes -bringing in pots more money for Sir Richard, of course.
This is deceit. Biofuels emit carbon dioxide when burned, the same as fossil fuels. This is supposed to be completely 'offset' by the plants having soaked up carbon as they grew. But recent scientific studied show such greenhouse gains to be much exaggerated.
Taking into account production of fertilisers and pesticides, Then further processing Into fuel, the amount of energy used and therefore carbon emitted it considerable.
But the biggest disaster of the current promotion of biofuels is the amount of forest this eats up. According to the campaign group 'Biofuelwatch' :
'Malaysia and Indonesia have earmarked millions of hectares of tropical rainforest for destruction - to grow
The area where a
solution to
unsustainable emissions is most
needed is in transport, especially aviation. If flying continues
to expand as predicted, its
emissions will
double in just a decade, cancelling
out all other
reductions under the Kyoto Protocols. more palm oil for biodiesel sold in Europe.
Soya is also the main destroyer of the Amazon, and Brazil hopes to become a global exporte ot sovabiodiesel'
As they say in addition, tropical deforestation already accounts for a quarter of all greennouse gas cassions. Further destruction would be catastrophic.
Business 'solutions' such as Branson's necessarilv involve expansion. otherwise increase in profits. But the truth is that the remedy for culung aviaton emissions must mean not more but less flying, replacing with proven, more environmentally sound methods or travel or less travel altogether
An obvious step in this direction is to halt all further airport and runway expansion. Aviation fuel could also be taxed, ending a £9 bn annual tax holiday currently enjoyed by airline companies. This would probably be passed on to passengers in the form of increased ticket prices
Iany on une left are opposed environmental taxation, since they see it as penalising the poor. In fact, as regards air travel, the majority of people using so-called 'cheap flights' are from higher or middle-income brackets, and the really poor don't fly at all!
It could be argued too that the sheer urgency of tackling climate change means that some eco-taxes, such as on sary, it they raise money fro real alternatives and change [peoples behaviour.
I would cite the London congestion charge as successful in doing both. For example, money has been made available to improve public transport and there has been a ZU per cent reduction in use of the particularly environmentally harmful private car.
Of course, socialists also argue for social ownership for our transport svstems and public planning of our towns ano clues to make toem more people and planet friendly
On a wider scale, there is an urgent need for an international, legally binding treaty
greennouse gas CUls, which goes beyond the Kyoto Protocols by including all transport. It should also set much higher targets than the current meagre 5.2 per cent
Social ownership, clunomic growth, the market, taxation, lifestyle changes and much more will be topics for debate at Socialist Resistance forum Barbarism'. Come and join us and share experiences, ideas and hopes for the future! Sheila Malone OVER THE SUMMER an important Climate Camp took place at the giant Drax coal-fired power station near Selby. Much media hype portrayed the camp as a bunch of violent extremists, and 2000 police were shipped in to deal with predicted rioting.
In fact, the march to the power station was peaceful and well organised. Protesters talked with Drax workers and local people, explaining what they were doing and why, and a leaflet was distributed. The response was interest, not hostility.
That huge pollution can mean huge protits was also discussed. In the first half of this year Drax more than tripled its profits to £239m,
Drax supplies 7% of Britain's electricity and is the country's biggest single emitter of carbon dioxide. The symbolic action to try to shut down the plant for a day was to highlight just how much it contributes to dangerous global warming.
The camp itself was an enthusiastic and successful experiment by 600 mainly young people in sustainable living. Energy was sourced from windmills; food was local, organic and vegetarian. There was also plenty of informed and serious discussion about local, national and international solutions to current energy crises and to catastrophic climate change.
Successive Tory and Labour governments have presided over the privatisation of Britain's energy sources and the subsequent squandering of North Sea gas for quick profits. Consequently, we now face shortages and insecurity, and prices are rocketing.
New Labour's proposed solution is a return to coal and nuclear power - the two most dangerous and dirty fuels. The government is falsely spinning both as clean and safe. They claim nuclear is carbon-free, which it is not, when the whole cycle of generation is taken into account. Their muchvaunted clean coal technology' is also an unproven and risky process of burying carbon underground. In fact, both fuels bequeath a lasting and toxic legacy of waste to future generations.
Instead, the Drax protesters propose a huge switch to renewables, energy efficiency, conservation ana decent alisation Radical structural changes in society, enabling changes to our ways of life are also necessary reduction in demand.
The Climate Camp happened in part because of growing frustration at our government's failure to act over the looming threat of dangerous climate change. Despite New Labour rhetoric carbon emissions in Britain are missed The most recent report from the Tyndale Climate Centre calls for 9% carbon emissions cuts annually, it we are to avoid catastrophe.
Like the 1980s Greenham Common peace camp, Drax or BARBARISM
A Day of discussion - Saturday 2 December
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with the struggle for social justice?
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was part of a wider, burgeoning movement to try to halt the devastation to people and planet the destabilisation of our climate will inevitably cause. Our next big protest is the International Day of Action on 4th November. This will coincide with climate talks in Nairobi, and in London promises to be the biggest ever demonstration over climate change. Can capitalism solve the ecological crisis? University of London Union, Malet St, London (Goodge St. Tube) • How do we combine the fight against climate change • How can we develop and strengthen ecosocialism? Speakers include: Michael Lowy (joint author of "An Ecosocialist Manuresto ), Klaus Engert (rourn International, Germany) and environmental and solidarity campaigns, from socialist and green political parties as well as international speakers, to debate the urgent questions raised by global warming and Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 8800 7460