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Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

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Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#41
post #30

It seems EU politicians believe in climate change, until they have to catch a bus for a couple of hours… BTW, I am a EU citizen worried about climate change and tired of recycling at home to sometimes see this kind of hypocrisy of some politicians.

Air transport account for less than 4% of the 51 b tons of CO2 we send every year. These politicians aren’t going to make any difference. We could ask them to be role models, but with what finality? Again air transport is not the most urgent problem. I understand this is a topic that can be used to raise awareness, but the most useful thing these politicians could do is to rethink the way (EU) businesses are leading…

> We could ask them to be role models, but with what finality?

Yes! That would show everyone that dealing with climate change is going to reduce your quality of life. I'm sure that's a good idea.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#42
post #30

It seems EU politicians believe in climate change, until they have to catch a bus for a couple of hours… BTW, I am a EU citizen worried about climate change and tired of recycling at home to sometimes see this kind of hypocrisy of some politicians.

Air transport account for less than 4% of the 51 b tons of CO2 we send every year. These politicians aren’t going to make any difference. We could ask them to be role models, but with what finality? Again air transport is not the most urgent problem. I understand this is a topic that can be used to raise awareness, but the most useful thing these politicians could do is to rethink the way (EU) businesses are leading…

They are "not going to make a difference" but we the people (I am a Spaniard) are paying for their jobs and they are constantly pressing us to use less polluting means of transportation. That is the shame.

And the silly fact of the EU having:

Brussels, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Strasbourg

as seats of the Government makes this shameful and, yes, scandalous.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#43

I didn't really understand the significance of this? Does it only make sense if you believe what the top commenter believes: “So when I see stories like this, it confirms that all this climate change nonsense is just that - nonsense. If it was really an issue, these flights wouldn't exist."

I guess it's a bit of a curiosity. The charge of hypocrisy is to be expected, and not entirely wrong, although it suffers from the usual problem, namely that a doctor telling you that smoking is dangerous with a pack of Marlboros on his desk isn't necessarily wrong.

So much better said then my rambling screed above. People pick up on any excuse to avoid the diagnosis. Yes, the switch to plastic straws was stupid. Yes, the rich and powerful fly on planes and own yachts.

We live in this imperfect world. If we wait for it to become "perfect" top down, we'll just wait forever. And the climate emergency does to care about our partisan concerns.

I feel so for those with children. It's clear we're leaving them a world already condemned.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#45

It seems EU politicians believe in climate change, until they have to catch a bus for a couple of hours… BTW, I am a EU citizen worried about climate change and tired of recycling at home to sometimes see this kind of hypocrisy of some politicians.

It's not even a couple of hours, that's the best part. There are direct trains (ICE/TGV) that take around two hours, some even a bit less. The flight can't possibly be faster if you factor in getting to the airport and going through the security theater. Which, if we want to talk about beliefs is another ridiculous policy that hasn't demonstrably saved any lives. Instead now people simply get shot up in theaters and run over at Christmas markets. But thank god they're taking everyone's lighter and water bottle.

I wonder if part of the reason they're flying is that they don't want to be in public transport with the plebeians.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#46

This flight seems very slow. I’ve just compared it to some short haul flights locally - 1hr 10 mins gets me 650km. The flight in the article takes 55 minutes to go 178km. Short flights will have proportionally more time taxing etc, but this alone wouldn’t appear to explain it.

Aircraft are limited to a speed of 250kts below 10,000ft unless they're in an airport's control zone and then they're limited to 200kts. So, given the time to navigate Frankfurt's complex airspace, as well as balancing how much gas needs to be burned to get high to go fast, when you will shortly need to come off the throttle and descend anyways, versus just staying low and within the speed limits, I can see 55 minute…

This makes sense to me.

The shortest commercial flight I ever took was from HOU to IAH†, a flight distance of 24mi/39km. I was surprised how long it took. At first I thought it was because of traffic, but a member of the flight crew told me, "We go low and slow."

†This was back when Continental was all mad about the parking situation at IAH, and so if you had an outbound flight from IAH, it would let you park for free at HOU and then add on a free HOU→IAH segment. At the time, you used to get 500 frequent flyer miles just for getting into the air, so it was an option I exercised as often as I could.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#47
These same people want to take away affordable heating from their constituents including the poor in the name of the "climate emergency". Yet, they can take a plane (that pumps huge amounts of CO2 directly into the sky) twice a week for the distance some people commute by ground _everyday_ for work. Then they only work for two days a week. I've never seen a more disgusting display of elitism.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#48
post #30

It seems EU politicians believe in climate change, until they have to catch a bus for a couple of hours… BTW, I am a EU citizen worried about climate change and tired of recycling at home to sometimes see this kind of hypocrisy of some politicians.

Air transport account for less than 4% of the 51 b tons of CO2 we send every year. These politicians aren’t going to make any difference. We could ask them to be role models, but with what finality? Again air transport is not the most urgent problem. I understand this is a topic that can be used to raise awareness, but the most useful thing these politicians could do is to rethink the way (EU) businesses are leading…

Air transport account for less than 4% of the 51 b tons of CO2 we send every year. These politicians aren’t going to make any difference.

As they say, no snowflake thinks it's responsible for the avalanche.

Re: Lufthansa’s European Union Strasbourg “shuttle”

#49
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Air transport account for less than 4% of the 51 b tons of CO2 we send every year. These politicians aren’t going to make any difference. We could ask them to be role models, but with what finality? Again air transport is not the most urgent problem. I understand this is a topic that can be used to raise awareness, but the most useful thing these politicians could do is to rethink the way (EU) businesses are leading…

They are "not going to make a difference" but we the people (I am a Spaniard) are paying for their jobs and they are constantly pressing us to use less polluting means of transportation. That is the shame. And the silly fact of the EU having: Brussels, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Strasbourg as seats of the Government makes this shameful and, yes, scandalous.

Multiple locations makes sense politically. Different countries reduce the likelihood of anyone claiming favouritism (perhaps very slightly, but still) and makes it feel more democratic, even if it is more inefficient.
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