Mark
Every now and then the sheep mask slips just low enough on the wolf’s face for us to catch a glimpse of where things are going to end up long term.
Case in point: The Guardians of the Bays, in this Stuff article, described as “a group initially set up to fight against the runway extension” at Wellington Airport.
When confronted about the need for greater future capacity at the airport and trying to address the resultant future carbon emissions as well as rubbishing the efficacy of future technologies, a representative had this to say:
“More emphasis needed to be placed on altering people’s behaviour and making air travel less accessible, Mr Randerson said.”
Radio NZ
Let that gobsmack you for a second.
“Altering people’s behaviour.“
“Making air travel less accessible.“
116 years of good old fashioned capitalist aviation research and development has come down to this. Being shut down by wannabe bureaucrats over a doom and gloom prediction with a worse reputation for prophetic accuracy than economics.
If this is sounding really creepy, like history is repeating itself, it’s because it is. Who were the last group of people to be placed under travel restrictions over a fearmongering power grab?
Never mind the fact that the Mayor responded by agreeing with capacity needs but passing the buck to central government to carbon tax aviation into oblivion. Nice balanced centrist response.
Ignore the fact that by the time Wellington Council hits its carbon-neutral target year of 2050, battery technology will probably be safe, powerful and compact enough for regional airliners and long haul will probably be burning hydrogen sourced from renewables if for no other reason than to tell the oil sheikhs where to stick their pricing plans.
So next time I want to go to Hawaii I’ll have to jump on a huge solar-powered catamaran for about 10 times the fare to pay for 2 weeks of vegan meals for the trip.
They want to steal our future! How dare they!