tion to climate change targets.
December saw the publication of two reports commissioned by the government which are likely to have a major impact on the future relationship between planning decisions over major infrastructure - projects including airports - and any semblance of democratic accountability.
Kate Barker's report into changing England's planning laws has recommended the creation of a new national body to decide on major building projects.
Despite the gloss about democratic accountability there is a real fear that this will undermine the power of local campaigning to prevent damaging, wasteful and unnecessary developments.
Her report came only a few weeks after former BA chief, Rod Eddington's report into public transport, which received a mixed response from Eddington rightly acknowledges that large scale road building is not the answer to our transport problems, and his call for more investment in alternatives to the car is welcome of course.
But road pricing is more controversial because as a flat rate tax it is less progressive than taxes based on engine size or occupancy.
Not surprisingly given his background Eddington was supportive of airport expansion but particularly in terms of hub airports such as Heathrow.
These reports were both commissioned by the government and as far as planning is concerned they are likely to bring forward legislation in 2008-9.
While planning is not an issue that often animates big national campaigns, in this case it will need to.
Road pricing is more
controversial because as a flat rate
tax it is less
progressive than
taxes based on
engine size or occupancy.
As Brian Ross from the Stop Stanstead expansion campaign explains "it is a blatant attempt to marginalise the input into planning decisions from local community groups".
The governmical also responded with a "Progress report " not what we would consider progress certainly! on the 2003 Aviation White paper which saw new Labour pleasing its friends in the London Chamber of Commerce with support for a third, short LuIlway at Heathrow as well as a new runway at Stanstead.
This is scarcely any surprise given that former Labour MP Clive Soley is leader of the Future Heathrow group, which worryingly has trade union involvement.
Certainly all of this, combined with Brown's paltry increases on air passenger duty in his pre-budget announcements gives the lie to anyone who believed that the government's conversion to a green agenda was anything more than PR deep. David Milliband can make as many speeches to the Fabian society as he likes about a new way of doing politics but actions speak much louder than words.
Campaigners are certainly not taking any of this quietly (lying down on runways may come as it has done in the past).
At Stanstead, campaigners had had a boost in November when Uttlesford District council blocked the expansion plans which want to increase passenger numbers to 35 million a year but owners BAA are refusing to accept this decision and taking it to a public enquiry.
Activists have launched a campaign fund to fight back. area go to:
• www.airportpledge.org.uk/case_against_expansion.php
• www.airportwatch.org.uk
•www.planestupid.com/index.php
At Heathrow, HACAN Clear Skies are continuing the fight, pointing out that the expansion would mean the demolition of 700 homes and mean 150,000 more people would be under the flightpath of a new runway.
On December 5 Bristol
occupied North Somerset Environment and Planning Offices to protest against plans for expansion of Bristol airport, presenting the planners with a giant letter to make the point that climate change is a giant issue.
Key initiatives included the day of action against short haul flights on November 6 that shut down the owners of Easygroup, owners of Easyjet. It was really amazing to see what proportion of flights from Heathrow were short haul when these were disproportionately affected by the fog In the run up to Christmas.
But then when you try to travel by train, it becomes less surprising. I travelled to For further information and to find campaigns in your Scotland a few months ago and witnessed a man in his 70's sitting in the toilet for more than half the journey because there were no free seats anywhere on the train.
A pensioner, he had already paid more than £100 for his ticket, but it didn't give him a seat because he hadn't booked on a particular train.
Then, when I travelled to Vienna and Budapest this summer I thought about going by train rather than plane.
But it was going to cost more than 10 times more to do so than to fly. I couldn't afford it (though I did compromise and get the train between Vienna and Budapest...)
That is why it is a mistake if airport campaigners and other activists don't place more emphasis on fighting for free public transport as well as against air travel.
This is an issue that the Scottish Socialist Party on the other hand are making central to their activity and propaganda in the run up to May's elections for Holyrood. The left in England and Wales should take a leaf out of their book and follow suit. much as a 747's return flight to Prague. A tourist could drive around Rome on a scooter non-stop for more than six months and still produce fewer emissions than a flight from London. • Catching Euro Star to Paris from London would release 40 times less global warming pollutants into the atmosphere. • On present trends by 2040 the European Union's entire budget for carbon emissions will be taken up by aviation alone. • A return flight from London to Miami produces, per person, 4830kg of C02 • A year's worth of driving your car produces 1061.8kg • The average British home per month produces 500kg • A television on standby for a year 436.9kg • London to Moscow return by train 254.6kg The Facts about Travellers • • In 1970, British airports were used by 32 million people. In 2004, the figure was 216 million. In 2030, according to the government's most recent forecast, the figure will be between 400 million and 800 million. • Air travel has increased fivefold over the past 30 years, and demand is projected to be between two and thee times current levels by 2030. Business travel only accounts for 24% of all trips and that percentage is not expected to change significantly over the next 30 years. 4.5% of the UK population makes 44% of all flights - MORI Poll, 2001
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Éco socialism On December 2, hosted a forum on Ecosocialism or Barbarism in London. A packed programme of workshops and plenary sessions brought together people from a variety of different backgrounds in a stimulating day of discussion which will hopefully have an impact on our practice in the New Year of 2007. Belgian environmentalist Daniel Tanuro opened the day with an account of his explorations of Marx from an ecosocialist point of view. But while highly developed and argued in close detail, his contribution was much more than an intellectual GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA
huge saturation of the carbon cycle" He was joined on the platform of the opening session Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales and a life long ecosocialist. Wall spoke about the Ecosocialist manifesto written by Joel Kovel and Michael Lowy which he argued " is an essential document because it argues in essence that unlimited economic growth unsustainable and that to surBECUEE the exception, is part of a green to be red" is reported elsewhere on the spread.
Klaus Engert's workshop which spanned both this and the next session on Alternative solutions was organised in a way that 1s unusual for such events on the British left.
Participants were divided into small groups and given a list of questions to work though after a brief introduction from Klaus and then came back together to feed back their ideas.
-on people to imagine what a low
Andy Kilmister's session In the past, a central characteristic of capitalist production has been its unconstrained and invasive nature, noticed by Marx and it played, and continues to play, in making capitalist social relations appear natural' and unchangeable.
Relationships between people which can potentially be changed through political struggle come to be seen as immutable since they arise from a permanent natural order.
Exactly the same is now happening with climate change. Rather than being seen as something resulting from the particular pattern of human relationships which supposes, it is analysed as a needs to be solved within the has used periods where the destroyed through war, he between that and climate
There is one important labour and capital over the
In the second session of
Daniel Tanuro in late capitalism is crazy.
It's a pernicious ideology. Whole sectors of the population are tied into it. Where is the working class family that's going to explain to their children that they aren't going to have Christmas this year because lots of this consumption is irrational?
It's going to require a "reconversion" of the way we live, thinking about what it means to be human and what are the things we need and the things that this society says we need. Now I'm not suggesting that we need to start living in something like a medieval village again. There's no question of going backwards in terms of peoples standards of living.
We have to do it in a way