Heathrow campaigners take on US airline industry

The US and UK will this week be sharing information on how to clip the industry's wings following our victory at HeathrowThis Saturday, transport campaigner John Stewart and I will be heading, through video-conferencing and in person, to New York, to mark the start of a US-wide Aviation Justice Express tour, in which we will tell the story how activists triumphed at Heathrow.The battle against Heathrow's third runway was a landmark victory for campaigners in the UK. The campaign against expansion was won, against all the odds, largely thanks to the extensive coalition which came together to fight the plans. Activists and local residents, NGOs and politicians from across the board all teamed up in an unprecedented challenge to airport operator BAA and the government.However, we know this is just one victory, and only the start of what we must achieve globally in order to tackle climate change. The 3,400 airport construction, expansion, and development projects planned in the United States, including major hotspots in New York and Chicago, make the Heathrow third runway campaign look like a walk in the park.In a nation where the far-right are rising politically and climate denial is rife, people continue to fly short distances because an integrated sustainable land transport system is simply not on the agenda. The task seems daunting. Yet we know that to reduce carbon emissions to a safe level means a challenging carbon-intensive industry at every step.Outside perspectives give us a sense of what we may have accomplished in the UK. The American campaigners who invited us are keenly interested in how building a left-right coalition brought success at Heathrow, as well as the way networks like AirportWatch helped communities to develop unified policy goals, instead of continuously trying to push the problem from one community to another.They want to know how faith groups got involved in the issue, and how Heathrow campaigners successfully challenged the economic case for a third runway at Heathrow, helping persuade a Conservative-led government to drop it. And they want to hear about direct substitutes like rail, culture-changing concepts like slow and local travel, and disruptive technologies like ubiquitous video-conferencing.Aviation contributes 4.9% of man-made climate impacts, the human causes of climate change. UK and US citizens are some of the heaviest aviation consumers in the world (95% of the world's population have never flown). While aviation is largely the preserve of the rich, the impacts of aviation are felt first and foremost by the poorest in society. The Asian Development Bank recently reported that more than 30 million people were displaced last year in Asia alone as a result of environmental pressures, and that climate change will only serve to exacerbate such trends.Aviation expansion fosters environmental injustice a local level, as well as a global level: residents near airports suffer as a result of poor air quality and high noise levels, and nearby communities are often disproportionately poor. In America, the link between environmental degradation and social injustice has historically been more clearly articulated than in the UK.Likewise, the rich tradition of campaigning and civil disobedience, and the commitment to freedom of expression in America, provides hope for the aviation campaign. The tour will build on this tradition. While UK campaigners will talk about the creative tactics employed by the Heathrow campaigners, which included community stunts as well as the direct action activities of groups such as Plane Stupid and Climate Camp, we expect to learn much more than we share.If airport expansion can be turned around in countries like the United States and Canada, it can be turned around anywhere. We have no choice but to be hopeful. We are delighted that our experience with the issue may help serve as inspiration. If we are to tackle runaway climate change on a global level, it's imperative that we learn to recognise and share our local successes, just as we try to learn from the best ideas available abroad.Heathrow third runwayTravel and transportCarbon emissionsClimate changePollutionAirline industryHeathrowAir transportDan Glassguardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Lapland holidays Lapland skiing holidays Travel Finland holidays