British Prime Minister Tony Blair mounted a defense of his environmental credentials Tuesday after critics rounded on his claim that lawmakers would never ask the public to cut down on air travel.
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair mounted a defense of his environmental credentials Tuesday after critics rounded on his claim that lawmakers would never ask the public to cut down on air travel.
Blair's office announced he would offset carbon emissions from personal air travel by donating money to environmental projects __ after lobby groups and a government adviser criticized the premier.
The British leader had earlier claimed no politician would ever call on the public to take less flights, suggesting the onus should be on business to develop cleaner fuels.
"I personally think these things are a bit impractical, actually to expect people to do that (take less flights)," Blair told Britain's Sky News in an interview. "It's like telling people you shouldn't drive anywhere."
He said airlines should focus on making air travel more energy efficient, working to produce fuels that "burn less energy and emit less."
Environmental groups said Blair's comments had tarnished his claim to be taking an international lead on climate change.
Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the government's Sustainable Development Commission, claimed Blair had shown "patchy and muddle-headed" leadership.
Porrit told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that Blair should consider the impact of his family's frequent long haul holidays on the actions of the public.
"He should seek to reduce them as much as he possibly can, and he should be absolutely clear that when he does feel the need to take a foreign holiday, he is indeed offsetting the emissions," Porrit told the BBC.
"He should be encouraging other people to do the same," and to take their holidays in Britain, he said.
In recent years, Blair and his family have taken breaks in the United States, Barbados and Egypt.
"He has now asked for his personal flights to be offset. He will do that personally," Blair's official spokesman said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.
The spokesman said the decision was a "logical extension" of the government's policy of offsetting carbon emissions on all official flights.
In October, a government commissioned report by former chief World Bank economist Sir Nicholas Stern called for urgent action to stem carbon emissions.
It warned that unabated climate change would eventually cost the world the equivalent of between 5 percent and 20 percent of global gross domestic product each year.
Source: Associated Press
Contact Info:
