- Newsnight
- 17 Oct 06, 05:32 PM
A world exclusive interview with a former member of the Janjaweed; Development Secretary Hilary Benn discusses the interview and whether the Sudanese Government has been actively involved in war crimes; ethical man looks at flying; NHS cuts; and Britain blogs in the name of history,
Discuss here.
- Justin Rowlatt -
- 17 Oct 06, 05:01 PM
Today the National Trust is encouraging us all to contribute a diary to an online archive of of Britain.
They want to know what you ate, where you went, what you listened to on your iPod. The idea is to compile all the humdrum events of one ordinary day to create a unique social history of Britain for future generations.
So how many of you will record how you thumbed through brochures looking for your next exotic holiday or for that matter flew off to some far-flung idyll? And now pause and consider whether that鈥檚 something you are likely to be doing in 20 years time 鈥 or for that matter in 10.
Because the most striking thing I鈥檝e learnt since my editor appointed me Newsnight鈥檚 Ethical Man is just how polluting flying is.
In the weeks before the project began my family flew off for some cheap winter sun in the Canaries. When we worked out our that one short holiday was responsible for more carbon dioxide than heating my house for a year or all the emissions from the family鈥檚 estate car.
That message was banged home today in a from Oxford University鈥檚 Environmental Change Institute. It says aviation will consume an increasingly large proportion of Britain鈥檚 carbon budget even under the most conservative growth forecasts and concludes that current aviation policy is at odds with the government鈥檚 targets for climate change.
But are there ways we can neutralise the effects of our extravagant carbon consumption and continue to fly? That鈥檚 what I set out to find for tonight鈥檚 Newsnight and what鈥檚 more I flew all the way to Jamaica to find out.
I know some people will be shocked that a man who claims to be trying to minimise his carbon footprint took a plane. My wife certainly was, not least because since we are now living as an 鈥渆thical鈥 family we鈥檝e eschewed aviation, given up our car and took the train to France for our summer holiday.
鈥淓thical Man my arse,鈥 she said when I told her that me and a cameraman were off to Jamaica for the weekend. You can see her full reaction tonight.
Watch the programme if you can and please tell us whether you think we were right to fly all the way to Jamaica for this item. Is carbon offsetting an answer to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions or will it just compound the problem by discouraging us from changing the way we behave now?
Answers on an postcard, please 鈥 or at least via the comments form below...
Click here to watch the report
- Paul Mason
- 17 Oct 06, 07:38 AM
The British Library is encouraging us all to blog about our daily experience today. If you want to have a go, click . It's being done to promote "history" and you are supposed to include stuff about how history has affected your day. It will all be useful in 2207 they say. Since most of us are not lucky enough, like Samuel Pepys, to be able to write "got up, drank my morning draught, went to France to bring about the restoration of the Stuart monarchy, got drunk, snogged the housemaid..." it could be a tall order. However I am about to give it a go. For the entertainment and enlightenment of Newsnight viewers I will be updating this regularly throughout the day. If your blog intersects with mine - ie you see me on the bus, or I am unlucky enough to be put on telly tonight - put me in as a keyword, and Newsnight. Here goes....
Continue reading "My One Day In History - 0600-2359"
