Mark Ellingham built his business on helping people travel. Now he wants to help people stop –at least by air.
He is calling fora £100 green tax on all flights to Europe and Africa, and £250 on flights to the rest of the world. He also wants investment to create a low-carbon economy,as well as a halt to airport expansion.
Mark Ellingham’s commitmentis important because his readers aren’t just the sort of young and adventurous people who would happily jump on a plane to spend a weekend exploring a foreignculture. They are also the sort of people who say they care about the environment.It’s a debate that splits people down the middle.
The tourist industry has responded by offering offsetting (补偿) schemes. A small increase in the price of a ticket is used to plant trees.
But critics say that it is not enough to just be carbon neutral. We should be actively cuttingback on putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And for the average person,making a plane journey will be his or her largest contribution to globalwarming. It may be good to repair the damage we do. But surely it is better notto do the damage in the first place.