Just 1% of people are responsible for half of all toxic emissions from flying.

  • Kecessa
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    1 year ago

    Skewed analysis is skewed.

    From their own source, 4% of the fuel consumption comes from private flights, so the 1% of people are mostly taking commercial flights (70% of gas consumption), the petition should be to ban private and the majority of passenger commercial flights.

    Did you know that four passengers in a Suburban pollute less for the same amount of miles traveled than if they were going to their destination by plane? Don’t see many people thinking about that when taking the plane to visit the world, not even those who are eco anxious.

    • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Although nothing you’ve said is inaccurate or incorrect, I feel like you’re leaving out a big part of the equation - time. A Suburban can’t travel the same number of miles anywhere near as fast as a plane or jet and that, in most cases, is the number one reason someone chooses a flight over a drive, even if it uses less fuel and is more eco-friendly.

      • Kecessa
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        1 year ago

        I totally agree with you but there’s a question that should be asked when it comes to going on vacation all over the place (and from what I understand it’s more common in the USA/English Canada to move very far for school and to take the plane multiple times a year to go see one’s family)… It’s simply unsustainable but people keep pointing at the rich with their private jet but when looking at the big picture, it’s tourists that allow commercial flights companies to continuously increase the number of flights they offer…

        • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It’s really not, though. Commercial aviation and transport (including private jets, commercial flights, and shipping/import) combined make up only 5.3% of the total CO2 in use. While commercial flights make up 70% of that slice, they also have an exponential effect vs. the alternative. Even if there are more flights, unless they are less than half-full, using commercial airlines is more sustainable and also safer than the other alternatives because the effect is multiplicative.

          Imagine everyone was taking private jets. If you forced everyone to fly in pairs, you would literally halve the amount of CO2. Force them to fly in 4’s, and it’s a further halving of that first half (equal to 1/4 the amount of CO2 now). Extend that further and further until you have a flight with 647 passengers (the “average” amount for commercial flight globally) and look how much CO2 you’ve prevented from entering the atmosphere. Even if someone is touring 6 or more times per year, as long as they’re flying a commercial flight, it’s better for CO2 production than a car or individual transport.

          It’s far more effective to direct efforts to something outside of that 5% (or especially a subsection of that 5%) like manufacturing or industrial CO2 pollution.

          • Don_alForno@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Commercial aviation and transport (including private jets, commercial flights, and shipping/import) combined make up only 5.3% of the total CO2 in use.

            That’s between the total CO2 emissions of Russia and India, ranked 3rd and 4th worldwide (only China and the USA have higher emissions, and those two lead by huge margins). By that logic, all countries in the world besides China and the USA could stop reducing emissions because they only cause sub 10% shares of the total.

            You just can’t argue that way. 5% are a big, signifikant amount. There isn’t a whole lot “outside that 5%”. Ultimately, all of it has to become 0 anyway.

            • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              By that logic, all countries in the world besides China and the USA could stop reducing emissions because they only cause sub 10% shares of the total.

              No, because China and the USA are both affected by the emissions regardless of which one of them are responsible for them. In that case, the one we’re actually faced with, it makes more sense to tackle the emissions that are highest first and that have the lowest barriers. You pick the problems with the largest return on investment in time and resources. Airplanes are not that. Banning commercial flights for people is a fantasy and banning private jets, although something I agree with for other reasons, is not enough to make a dent.

              There isn’t a whole lot “outside that 5%”.

              Yes, there is. Cars, on average, have not lowered their emissions at anywhere near the same rate as airplanes have over the last 20 years and that’s including new electric cars. Until electric cars overtake gas-powered vehicles, which is currently projected to happen in 2031, there is enough within this sector alone that is more than 5% of the problem and that doesn’t require an absolute fantasy for a solution. And that doesn’t even touch manufacturing and industrial emissions which account for an even bigger slice because of the energy they use.

              You’re right… it all has to become 0 anyways but we don’t have unlimited time or unlimited resources. Efforts need to be prioritized to put the ways that are realistic and meaningful at the top and unrealistic ways that solve 5% of the problem at the bottom.

              • Don_alForno@feddit.de
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                1 year ago

                Fossil fueled cars aren’t going to get that much more efficient in the foreseeable future, especially since manufacturers know they are a dead horse.

                So what do you propose for that sector? Banning driving? And that’s then easier than banning private flying, despite far more people relying on it every day, it being far more decentralized and far harder to regulate for that reason? Globally, at that? I mean of course we should improve public transit to make it a better alternative, but that’s an equally monumental task that will take decades in most places.

                Air travel is definitely a lower hanging fruit as for the majority of people it’s a luxury, not a necessity.

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  You do know that electric cars exist, right? Replacing gas powered cars, trucks, and semis would have a far more significant impact with less inconvenience and change required than it would to ban commercial air travel even partially. You say it’s a luxury but companies, families, and governments rely on it.

          • Kecessa
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            1 year ago

            You don’t understand what I’m saying.

            People shouldn’t be flying so dang much, it’s that simple. It’s not normal to expect to take one week off work and to be able to spend it guilt free on the other side of the world. I’m talking about eliminating commercial flights not to replace them with private jets, but to replace them with local vacations and with the expectation that if you decide to move across the continent you won’t be seeing your family four times a year but once every four years.

            Our incredible mobility is an unsustainable anomaly in human’s history.

            • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Why?

              You can’t just make a claim like “people shouldn’t fly as much” without a reason why or claims like “mobility is an unsustainable” without any kind of evidence. Our mobility is 100% sustainable. Not only that, it’s sustainable in its current form.

              • Kecessa
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                1 year ago

                What? What you’re saying doesn’t make sense, your previous message you were saying so yourself, 5.3% of all CO2 emissions, 70% of that coming from commercial passenger flights!

                It’s. Not. Sustainable.

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I think you’re not understanding the numbers. 70% of 5.3% of total emissions is 3.7% of total global emissions. In other words, if you eliminated all commercial flights, you’d only remove 3.7% of the total emissions being produced in the world. There are more impactful changes that can be made that do not have the impact of “no one can ever fly anywhere and you won’t see your family for years”.

                  It is sustainable.

                  🙄

                  • Kecessa
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                    1 year ago

                    No, it’s not. With your attitude we can justify not intervening to reduce emissions in any sector because all of them taken individually don’t represent that much emissions.

              • vivadanang@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Our mobility is 100% sustainable. Not only that, it’s sustainable in its current form.

                Oh the ice sheets on your planet are fine huh?

                JFC

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Oh is the current state of the ice sheets because of the 3% of CO2 from airlines? Or maybe there are bigger contributors to what’s going on there that we can tackle first?

                  Idiot.

                  • vivadanang@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    I can’t decide which is more depressing, you fighting for people to have the right to keep polluting by flying around their own jets, or the fact that you’ll never even benefit from your campaign to defend the rich assholes fucking up our environment for their own convinience.

                    either way you’re a sad, dumb sack of trash.

          • taladar@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Commercial aviation and transport (including private jets, commercial flights, and shipping/import) combined make up only 5.3% of the total CO2 in use.

            That may very well be but there are parts of that that are significantly more useful than others. Travelling from A to B only to travel back a few days later is probably among the most inefficient of those. That covers things like family visits, tourism, business meetings and many other human round-trips. There are probably a few exceptions, such as specialist workers coming to the device they repair if that device is even harder to move but overall most travel for short periods of time is very wasteful.

            • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              That’s not accurate, though. The number one usage of cars globally is commuting to and from work and that averages 1.2 passengers per vehicle. If you look at total car and light-duty usage across any kind of trip, it’s 1.3 passengers per vehicle. Usefulness has nothing to do with it and tourism contributes far more than it takes. All forms of travel are wasteful. Aviation is just less wasteful than other means of travel no matter how you slice it.

          • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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            1 year ago

            You’re comparing the environmental impact of a trip taken by plane vs. the same trip taken by car. I don’t think that is a reasonable comparison.

            The presence of the aviation industry makes it feasible for a New York family to take a vacation in California or Hawaii. Without aviation, that same family is unlikely to choose the long-distance trip, and would likely decide to visit Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, North Carolina, or some other nearby destination instead, driving 280-500 miles instead of flying 2800-5000 miles.

            • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              No. The parent made that comparison when they said it’s more sustainable to drive a Suburban with 4 people than it is for them to fly. That is just flat out untrue no matter how you look at it for all but the shortest of trips where it’s not even practical to take a flight.

              • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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                1 year ago

                I think you need to read the parent comment again. They are are specifically arguing that people shouldn’t regularly be taking such long trips. They specifically argued against the common practice of “USA / English Canada” students taking multiple long-distance flights a year.

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I think you need to reread the (now) grandparent comment again:

                  Did you know that four passengers in a Suburban pollute less for the same amount of miles traveled than if they were going to their destination by plane?

                  They’re arguing that people should be required to isolate from their families if they live far enough away. That’s nonsense.

                  They specifically argued against the common practice of “USA / English Canada” students taking multiple long-distance flights a year.

                  Yes, and I’m arguing that that’s nonsensical considering that all CO2 emissions from all form of commercial aviation travel are less than 3% of the global total.

                  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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                    1 year ago

                    They suggested in a subsequent comment that the practice of going to school far away was unusual outside of USA/Canada. Their suggestion was that people shouldn’t move that far from their families if they plan on regularly visiting them. Their suggestion was “pick a school 20 or 200 miles from home, rather than 2000”.

                    You seem to be hung up on one particular point about suburbans and not on the overarching message, which is just “travel less”.

                    3% is a lot. I don’t know where you get the idea that it isn’t.

                  • Kecessa
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                    1 year ago

                    They're arguing that people *should be required to isolate from their families if they live far enough away*. That's nonsense.

                    That’s exactly how people lived until the 1950s, if people decided to move across the continent for school they isolated themselves from their family and knew that was the price to pay.

          • vivadanang@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            5.3%

            that’s 5.3% of the carbon emissions that don’t actually contribute to the economy in a useful way. We will have to continue burning carbon to transport food and goods; transporting rich assholes to davos? fuck’em. if they want to go that bad get on commercial (GODS FORBID FIRST CLASS) or hop on the fucking yachts they all love.

            • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              5.3% is commercial airlines. 5.3% includes all air travel including commercial and commercial makes up 70% of that 5%. If you’re going to argue against something, get it straight what you’re actually arguing about.

              Also, you’re insane if you think that commercial aviation and transport don’t contribute to the economy. How do you think your cell phone that you’re using to type this nonsense got to you?

              • Tvkan@feddit.de
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                1 year ago

                How do you think your cell phone that you’re using to type this nonsense got to you?

                Very probably on a boat.

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Do you live in China? If not, it may have gotten to you by a combination of means definitely involving an airplane. Even if it didn’t make it to you directly, it likely travelled to several different places before it even got in your hands and the likelihood of an airplane being part of that is extremely high.

                  • vivadanang@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    good for it, it’s part of commerce. flying rich assholes around the world not so much. fuck off.

              • vivadanang@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                transporting rich assholes to davos? fuck’em. if they want to go that bad get on commercial (GODS FORBID FIRST CLASS) or hop on the fucking yachts they all love.

                since you obviously didn’t read it the first time.

                • Zoolander@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  What are you talking about? The article isn’t talking about the 1% richest. It’s talking about the top 1% of commercial travelers.