These days, the skies don’t seem so inviting: Airfares are climbing. Passengers are fighting. Computer systems, and entire airlines, are melting down.
Any of those might be reason enough for some to stay off a plane. But for a small, yet growing, number of travelers, the problem with air travel goes way further. They are giving up flying because of its impact on the climate.
Airlines are making an effort to fly more sustainably, with pledges to achieve “net zero” carbon emissions in the next three decades and move toward alternative fuels and electric power. Airlines for America, a trade association that lobbies on behalf of airlines, said in a statement that the industry was working with the U.S. government to reduce its footprint even as, the group said, “U.S. carriers transport over two million passengers and more than 65,000 tons of cargo per day while contributing just 2 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Activists say that progress isn’t coming fast enough and are pushing for frequent fliers to at least consider small changes, which they say could add up to big differences.
Source: Kamin, D. (2023, February 6). The no-jet set: They’ve given up flying to save the planet. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/travel/travel-climate-no-fly-pledge.html?searchResultPosition=17
Analysis: This is an antithesis to everything the park is trying to encourage in their audiences, but I think it’s helpful in keeping things in perspective. The park covers the origins of aviation and current explorations in flight, but it might be worth thinking about the side effects of innovation.
