CO2 is not pollution
France is scared of the vital trace gas carbon dioxide, or so its government leads us to believe.
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France has banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to cut carbon emissions, reports BBC News.
The law came into force two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours.
The ban all but rules out air travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux, while connecting flights are unaffected.
Critics have described the latest measures as “symbolic bans”.
Laurent Donceel, interim head of industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E), told the AFP news agency that “banning these trips will only have minimal effects” on CO2 output.
He added that governments should instead support “real and significant solutions” to the issue.
Airlines around the world have been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with website Flightradar24 reporting that the number of flights last year was down almost 42% from 2019.
The French government had faced calls to introduce even stricter rules.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
The law came into farce two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours…..eh? ” the same journey…” it never really is, is it? What constitutes a time taken for a journey? Needs Must, etc. Inverness to Eddingburg in under an hour: gets a job done ( or twae ) done in the day. Cows milked in the morning and again at night – no problem: Train? Udders bursting Mas tit is ….. aye not really funny – but townies don’t understand “How things work” do they? French any different ? naw … and we tend to copy / emulate them: remoaners, Weinoes, Breadsticks, weemin, and all the rest.
Och ffs listening to our( their) lorna slater ( the green part o’ the SNP ) wacking oan aboot recycling bottles again. well she has the Continental influence , hasn’t she? You wait, Ulez come , Ulez go, here comes Lorna and we’ll fly no mo’. … and there’s no ferry to Europe either, Oh! Edinburgh /Leith ferry to Tallinn is as good as it gets, https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Edinburgh/Tallinn unless you are https://www.starconcord.com.sg/scotland-begins-using-tallink-ferry-to-house-ukrainian-refugees/
Reblogged this on Climate Collections.
What’s French for ‘thin end of the wedge’? đ
If you are a standard traveller, then getting to the airport, queuing for check-in, security check-in, waiting to board and the time to take off, followed by waiting for the baggage to around etc. then a train would be likely to be quicker anyway.
My father found this in 1955 when he left his travellers off in the taxis to the airport in New York, while he picked up his bag and went across to the street to Grand Central Station and took a train to Hartford in Connecticut**. When the train arrived, across to the hotel and unpacked, and came down to the foyer when the others had just arrived.
**He wanted to see the autumn colours on the woods, as a first time traveller to USA.
Reblogged this on Climatism and commented:
If you fly private, read on. This ban on freedom of movement does not apply to you. Have a nice day.
Indeed Graeme!
As an – unfortunately deceased – friend of mine used to say, “if you’ve time to spare, go by air”!
makes sense as they have the means to move the population by train much quicker cheaper and cleaner. Britain’s politicians on the other hand are still arguing on returning to the days of feudalism (capitalism is past its sell by date) or for KC3 to free UK citizens to join the modern democratic world. The only issue France has created is its dependency on uranium and the mountain of lethal waste. Train v Plane is also a function of having a coherent plan for business, manufacturing, housing and travel.
Always read between the lines with the French. Connections between French cities are very poor, whether by air or rail. If you are lucky enough to live on a TGV line between Paris and somewhere Parisians want to go, great, otherwise journeys are slow and often have changes. Flying is similarly limited, unless you go via Paris and even then its poor. A train from Bordeaux to Marseille has an average time of 9 hours, though you can do it in 6 or so, about the same time as driving. Bordeaux to Nantes takes over 4 hours by train but only 3 and a half to drive (350km). The fact is, this ban will only affect TGV routes, which basically swaps easyJet or Ryanair flights for French state transport. Strange that.
Non-event…
[…] From Tallbloke’s Talkshop […]
Grounded ? Down to earth with a miff: Frankreich : Hoher Rinderbestand steht Klimaneutralität im Weg …(higher Beef Cattle numbers gets in the way of Climate neutrality) https://www.agrarzeitung.de/nachrichten/politik/frankreich-hoher-rinderbestand-steht-klimaneutralitaet-im-weg-107109?utm_source=%2Fmeta%2Fnewsletter%2Fnewsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nl6499-basic&utm_term=b1b196dd554176b8bec3498fe2d64e08
AFAIK short-haul flights are really important for industry execs. Just imagine Airbus or ELF execs in Toulouse – all those lobby meetings in Paris will have to be re-scheduled! Has someone in Paris in the pay of Blackrock got it in for Airbus? Did Boeing send a memo?