Government's Heathrow predictions are "over-optimistic greenwash"
16th January 2009
Anne Main challenged the Secretary of State Geoff Hoon over the "over-optimistic greenwash" which he presented on aircraft emmisions.
Following yesterday's statement committing the Government to a third runway at Heathrow airport, Anne Main, MP for St Albans, challenged the Secretary of State Geoff Hoon over the "over-optimistic greenwash" which he presented on aircraft emmisions.
Mr Hoon suggested that improvements in aircraft efficiency undermined arguments that the new runway would dramatically contribute to carbon emissions.
During the debate, Anne said:
"I fear that the proposal has been given an over-optimistic greenwash, and that it relies heavily on a particular type of plane for its delivery. Can the Secretary of State tell me which particular plane he has in mind, or which particular group of aerospace companies is proposing to deliver the plane by 2015?"
The Minister responded:
"I am sorry that the hon. Lady has put her question in that way. This is not about a particular plane. Every new aircraft that comes into service has reduced carbon emissions, improved efficiency and lower noise levels. As I made clear earlier, steady progress has continued in that regard since the mid-1970s. We have far more efficient aircraft today. Every time the airlines bring new aircraft into service, there is a marginal improvement in their emissions."
Upon leaving the chamber, Anne added:
"The Minister's attempt to justify the new runway with arguments about fictional greener aircraft which may or may not use the new runway is pure 'greenwash'.
It is obvious that this new runway will increase the volume of aircraft using Heathrow and this will undoubtedly have an impact in terms of emissions from aviation. The new runway would also be in the Green Belt, and this once again underlines the scant regard this Government has for this precious resource.
We have to think of the future and, yes, we must protect our economy, but we should not just ditch our green agenda whenever it suits us.
I still believe that high-speed rail should provide a major part of the solution to Britain's transport problems. An incoming Conservative Government would scrap the third runway plan and build a new, state of the art, high-speed rail network between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds." "
