A government says NO to airport expansion

July 5, 2010

NOTE: Images in this archived article have been removed.

Image RemovedThe British government’s recent decision to cancel construction of a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport marks a major milestone in our adaptation to post-carbon mobility.  This is the first time that a government has canceled plans for major aviation infrastructure expansion due to global, rather than local, concerns about environmental degradation.  In past decades, airport expansions in North America, Europe and Japan have scaled back when surrounding communities mobilized against the prospective increase in aircraft noise and motor vehicle traffic.  But no political jurisdiction has been willing to read the writing on the wall with respect to aviation’s future, until now.

Aviation is the most carbon-intensive mobility mode, and it’s practically continual growth since the introduction of jet aircraft in the 1950s is not sustainable on either an energy or climate protection basis. Yet many jurisdictions continue to plan for 3 – 5 % annual growth in air travel, in perpetuity, pouring billions into runway and airport terminal infrastructure that will be obsolete on the day they are opened.

The UK’s new government has prioritized expanding its high-speed rail network to substitute for short and medium-distance flights.  Given the current economic crisis, the funds to both both high-speed rail and Heathrow’s third runway were not available.  Rather than postpone the rail expansion that would expand Great Britain’s future mobility options, the government opted to pull the plug on a new runway that would become a stranded asset within the coming decade.

Responding to the predictable howls of outrage from air industry lobbyists, Great Britain’s Transport Minister of State for Transport, Teresa Villiers, simply stated ‘We decided to make Heathrow better rather than bigger’.  Such prescience merits an award for post-carbon insight and reveals just how newly elected governments can accomplish key changes to prepare their society for a sustainable post-carbon future.  People will look back on July 1, 2010 as a very important day of decision in sustainable transportation.

 

photo credit: Wessex Archaeology on flickr

Anthony Perl

Anthony Perl is Professor of Urban Studies and Political Science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. Before joining SFU, Anthony worked at the University of Calgary, the City University of New York, and Universite Lumiere in Lyon, France. He received his undergraduate honors degree in Government from Harvard University followed by an MA and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.

 
Professor Perl’s research crosses disciplinary and national boundaries to explore policy decisions made about transportation, cities, and the environment. He has advised governments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, and the United States on transportation and environmental research and policy development. He served on the Board of VIA Rail, Canada’s national passenger railway for more than four years. He has also served on the Selection Committee of Transport Canada’s Urban Transportation Showcase Program. He has led the Rail Group of the U.S. Transportation Research Board (TRB), a division of the National Research Council. He has also chaired TRB’s Committee on Intercity Passenger Rail. Professor Perl is a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute and Adjunct Professor of Urban Studies at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.
 

Tags: Media & Communications, Politics, Transportation