Blair Reconsiders His Flights

by lynn January 11, 2007
Categories: People.

Two days ago, we reported that Tony Blair was scoffing at the thought of stepping up to the green plate and making lifestyle changes to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Yesterday, the prime minister backpedaled and announced that he will be offsetting the emissions from his vacation flights.

On Monday Mr Blair’s office told the Guardian it was “not prepared to comment” further on Mr Blair’s personal travel. But yesterday it announced that he would offset the holiday and personal travel of his family, including his wife, Cherie, and their four children. According to the Climate Care website, that amounts to offsetting 11.98 tonnes of CO2 for a return flight from Heathrow to Miami.

Blair also talked about energy-efficient measures the government is taking for its offices. I don’t know whether to file this under “Green and Famous” or “Not Green,” but it’s amazing how even a nation’s leader can back down in the face of criticism.

http://shadowsignals.com/news/ Atomboy

Do you really think Tony Blair will actually do this or anything like it – or is it just a cheap publicity stunt to keep people quiet and make him look good until the clamour dies down?

Let’s just say that somebody else will have to deal with the 11.98 tonnes of CO2.
http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael

Thank you, Tony. I’d also like to criticize your lack of funding for this website….
http://www.furfree.hsus.org Andrea

Four children? Is there really a need to have four children? You’d think he’d want to set an example on the population growth issue by practicing family planning. Offsetting travel and promoting efficiency and conservation aren’t going to get us out of climate change alone. We need to stabilize population growth. It should start with our politicians.