Brighton & Hove Greens have vowed to stand in defiance with “colleagues and residents” following the Governments decision to approve construction of a third runway at Heathrow.
Party Co-Chair, Davy Jones, said the Government was once again overlooking ‘all the evidence’ in regards to climate change and air pollution levels.
“Sadly we see all the evidence pointing in one direction and Government policy dragging us the opposite way. The Green Party is saying loud and clear that we do NOT need extra runways or airport capacity. In fact, we need to look smarter ways of connecting such as teleconferencing and introducing “frequent flyer” penalties to reduce the amount of flying.
I would happily invite Government ministers to visit Brighton & Hove to see first hand how hundreds of our small business compete globally without flying representatives around the world. Extra runways are not compatible with our responsibilities in tackling climate change. And they are not compatible with tackling the hidden, silent killer – air pollution”.
He went on:
“Last month the World Health Organisation released a report revealing that nine out of ten people globally (92%) are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution [1], we now know that close to 2,500 people in London have died this year as a direct result of man-made air pollution [2].
It would seem that this is of little consequence to Theresa May, who at one point opposed the expansion of Heathrow [3]. Today we are vowing to stand side by side with residents in London and will support our Green colleagues with any plans to oppose the decision – Including peaceful direct action if necessary”.
Earlier, Green Party Co-Leader Caroline Lucas responded to the decision;
“With just 15 percent of UK residents accounting for seven out of 10 of all flights taken. This is not a win for families who jet off on a holiday once a year (and most people don’t even do that); this is to pacify the needs of those privileged individuals who fly regularly.
“Ministers know very well that airport expansion, at Heathrow or anywhere else for that matter, will leave our climate change commitments in tatters – and we need to make sure they know that climate campaigners and local residents have absolutely no plans to give up this battle”
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/who-air-pollution-report_uk_57eb88c5e4b00e5804efa06e#mce_temp_url#
[2] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-pollution-death-toll-to-hit-2500-a3367926.html#mce_temp_url#
[3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/22/theresa-may-pledged-to-fight-to-stop-third-runway-at-heathrow-in/#mce_temp_url#