The Anonymous Widower

Eco-Hypocrites

I laughed when I read this article in The Times.

But with global warming it isn’t quite so funny! 

I used to be a private pilot.  I say used to be advisedly, as flying an aircraft is a bit like riding a bicycle or riding a horse, in that once you’ve done it, you never forget.  So if I’m on a flight, when both pilots eat the fish that makes them ill, then hopefully I’ll be able to do the hero bit and save everybody.  I say hopefully, but as I said in a piece in The Times some years ago, the important thing is being able to work the radio, so someone can tell you which buttons to push!

I could claim the moral high ground and say that I don’t fly for ecological reasons, but that is not strictly true.  It is just too expensive these days and I prefer to spend my money in other ways.  I also flew before the low-cost airlines were about and that made a difference to the cost benefits.  Perhaps one day, I’ll take to the air again for fun, but now I look upon it as just an enjoyable phase of my life.  Sadly, there are few pictures of either of my aircraft and the wonderful places I took them.

But I was no Harrison Ford.  As the article in The Times says.

Harrison Ford, who is vice-chairman on the board of Conservation International, voices public-service messages for an environmental federation called EarthShare, and once shaved his chest hair to illustrate the effects of deforestation, is another hobby pilot. He once owned a Gulfstream but now makes do with a smaller Cessna Citation Sovereign eight-seater jet, four propeller planes and a helicopter.

Or John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Opray Winfrey etc.

The sad thing about these people, is that so many celeb-wannabees want to be like them, with multiple homes, private jets, large 4×4’s, the ability to fly your hairdresser all the way from LA to Europe and all sorts of other energy wasteful processes.

On the other hand I heard a story about another rich and famous couple, who did a similar horse-riding safari to myself in Kenya.  They turned up with their enormous entourage of just two friends, mucked in with the other guests and had a very good time.  So did all the other guests!  Often you hear of celebrities and politicians ruining holidays for everybody else.

What we need is an index of celebrities eco-credentials.

They’d love all the publicity!

Or would they?

December 1, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel, World | Environment, Flying, Global Warming/Zero-Carbon