In the months and weeks leading to the United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen activists and environmental groups took to the streets and rooftops in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of the issue. Some protested specific issues while others just hoped to pressure the leaders of the world into taking real action against global warming. One of the specific issues that was attacked by British protesters was the plan to add another runway to the Heathrow airport. Opponents of the expansion say that adding runways just encourages air travel, which currently accounts for around four percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Some have even suggested that air travel will one day be done away with, especially on short haul flights that can be replaced by trains.
A recent study by the Committee on Climate Change aimed to see the environmental impact of adding a third runway to Heathrow. Environmental groups hoped that this study would finally prove once and for all that the idea was not feasible and that a third runway would prevent the United Kingdom from reaching many of its goals when it comes to emissions. The study found that even though the new runway would certainly increase emissions that the increase was within acceptable limits, so the runway has been given the go ahead.
Greenpeace as well as the Conservative party says these numbers are incorrect, as they make assumptions about changes that have not yet occurred. The numbers take into account an increase in high speed rails as well as a decrease in business travel caused by better teleconferencing technology.
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