I’m exasperated by the number of naive and self-serving politicians who argue that new carbon- intensive industries ‘will boost the local economy’. Everyone from ministers to local councillors have been giving the green light to so many ill-considered schemes it’s hard to believe they’ve even heard of the climate crisis.
Take the new £150m terminal at Leeds Bradford Airport. It’s all very well for the director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership to embellish the green credentials of the building itself, but what about the proposed increase in annual capacity from four million passengers to seven million? As one campaigner pointed out, it’s like cutting down the Amazon rainforest with an environmentally friendly axe. That extra capacity would require at least 15,000 more flights every year, resulting in a 75 per cent increase in emissions over the next 10 years. Yet Leeds City Council approved the expansion, claiming that carbon emissions from international flights “should be primarily tackled at a national level”.
Denne historien er fra July 2021-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
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Denne historien er fra July 2021-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SNAP-CHAT
Justin Gilligan on giant spider crabs and holding hands with an octopus
STEPPE CHANGE
Herds of saiga have returned to Kazakhstan, but there's a fine balance to tread
TREES FOR LIFE
Community is at the heart of conservation in the tropical forests of southern Belize
WHEN DOVES CRY
Turtle doves are now the UK's fastest declining bird species, but the RSPB is on a mission to save them
SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST
We can't help being drawn to cute creatures, but our aesthetic preferences both help and hinder conservation
LIGHT ON THE NORTH
Spectacular images of Arctic foxes, reindeer and musk oxen reveal the wild beauty and diversity of Scandinavia
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
The super-sized crustacean that lives in the deepest, darkest ocean
LET'S GET TOGETHER
Clay licks deep in the Amazon explode in a riot of colour, with macaws the stars of the show
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
To sponge or not to sponge? That is the question for the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) living in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
7 nature encounters for the month ahead
WITH NATURALIST AND AUTHOR BEN HOARE