Government 'should invest in green travel options'

The government has been accused of neglecting its duty to tackle environmental issues and invest in greener forms of transport, by one expert this week.

According to campaigning charity Friends of the Earth, alternative options such as high-speed rail links need to be improved and promoted in order to help reduce the UK's carbon emissions.

Without such investment, the Airport Operators Association has reported a 78 per cent increase in the use of airports in the past decade.

Furthermore, passenger traffic at regional hubs, such as Leeds Bradford International Airport and West Midlands, has risen from 39 per cent to 48 per cent since 2002.

A spokesperson for Friends Of The Earth said: "Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of climate changing emissions in the UK and no amount of carbon offsetting will change that.

"Rather than support the expansion of airports, the government should invest in greener travel alternatives such as high speed rail links for the UK and short haul destinations in Europe - and make it cheaper for people to travel this way."

Industry-lobby group Flying Matters polled more than 1,000 voters in marginal constituencies about their feelings towards aviation and its effect on the environment.

The survey revealed that for 77 per cent of respondents the economy is not more important than the environment, which is up from 28 per cent last year.

In 2008, just eight per cent of the sample said the environment was a pressing concern, compared with 18 per cent in 2007.

These results indicate that the credit crunch is causing budgeting Brits to have to rethink their priorities with the environment losing out.

However, a spokesperson for Friends of the Earth urged Brits not to become complacent and rely on off-setting schemes to ease their consciences.

She said: "Offsetting is a smokescreen - it distracts attention from the wider, systemic changes and political action that need to be taken in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

"Offsetting may help host countries with this transition but it does nothing to reduce dangerous climate-changing emissions at home. In fact, it simply encourages businesses and people to continue with their polluting activities without reducing carbon dioxide emissions overall."

Whether holidaymakers will vote with their feet on this issue when they head off on foreign trips this summer remains to be seen. However, with the rising cost of fuel being passed on to travellers by many airlines holidaymakers' wallets may be the motivating factor which drives them out of airports.