Emily Armistead: Fastest way to damage the earth

The travel supplements of our national newspapers increasingly tout the joys of holidaying in Britain. Pictures of rolling hills and golden beaches accompany articles detailing the benefits to the environment of eschewing European city breaks in favour of domestic delights. So what does BA do in the face of the growing number of people choosing to holiday at home out of concern for the climate? It opens a new route, from West Sussex to Cornwall.

BA is New Labour's favourite airline, and together they are presiding over the emergence of a new phenomenon: binge-flying. The explosion in aviation threatens to derail any chance this country has of meeting its long term carbon reduction targets. Gordon Brown could change every light bulb in Britain, insulate every home and glue-up every standby button - he could even invent a perpetual motion machine and fit it to every car - and Britain would still be hard-pressed to meet its 2050 target if aviation expands to the level predicted.

That's why we're offering free train tickets to people booked on the inaugural Gatwick-Newquay flight. We hope travellers will let the train take the strain, not just next week but for as long as BA operates this route. After all, buying an off-peak rail ticket from central London to Newquay is cheaper than flying if you include travel to and from the airport, it only takes two hours longer and, most importantly, flying causes 10 times more damage.

Much as we'd love to operate a permanent climate ticket exchange, our resources don't stretch that far. Instead it will be down to politicians to stand up to BA and reverse the emergence of binge-flying.

The author is a senior climate and transport campaigner for Greenpeace

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