Press Release - 23 September 2005

Homeowners and industry face a bleak future if aviation is allowed to continue to grow without restriction, Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) Chairman Peter Sanders has warned.

His comment comes after a new five-year study by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester said that by 2050 all householders, motorists and businesses will have to reduce their carbon dioxide pollution to zero to allow for aircraft greenhouse gases if Government targets for a 60 per cent in emissions are to be met.

The new study was launched less than three weeks after SSE joined other major organisations, including Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid and the Women's Institute, at the launch in London of a new coalition called Stop Climate Chaos, which aims to pressurise political leaders into urgently addressing the threat of global warming.  The organisation's website, www.stopclimatechaos.org, allows people to send an email directly to the Prime Minister, urging the government to take action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

“The stark reality behind this research should be deeply worrying to industry and homeowners,” said Peter Sanders.  “If air travel is allowed to grow at the rapid pace being predicted, you and I and every industry except aviation will have to cut our contribution to global warming to zero that means all of our electricity and other energy supplies will have to come from renewable sources such as solar or hydro power.”

“It is frankly impossible to imagine that in the next few years, even with the amazing rate of progress we make today, we could be living in houses or driving cars that rely solely on renewable energy - and even more impossible to imagine how industry would cope,” he continued.  “The time has now come for the aviation industry and government to acknowledge that something has to be done to slow down the growth in air travel the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Why should other industries and homeowners pay the price?”

“I would urge everybody to log on to the Stop Climate Chaos website today and to send a message to Tony Blair that enough is enough the aviation industry must play its part in solving the problem of global warming which means accepting that unrestricted growth in air travel is simply not an option.”

ENDS

FURTHER INFORMATION
Carol Barbone, Campaign Director, SSE:  M 0777 552 3091 and cbarbone@mxc.co.uk
For more details of the Tyndall report 'Decarbonising the UK: energy for a climate conscious future' see http://tyndall.e-collaboration.co.uk/media/news/latest_news.shtml