๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ง ๐๐ญ
Written by Matt Prosser
The 'New Normal'. A strange thought. Without getting too far into more philosophical considerations and going down the rabbit hole of impermanent moments and the freshly born universes that come with each blink of an eye, it's important to understand our place in history, and the opportunity that momentous events provide as catalysts for the furthering of our agenda. No, I'm not using the ambiguous, ethereal 'our'. I'm not referring to the rabble I stand behind a banner with, I mean 'Our' in the truest sense of the term. The agenda of continuation, of reparation, and of conservation.
Walking through Roath on the way to work in Cardiff city centre, there are all too jarring reminders of the limbo we find ourselves in. Sun-bleached crayon-drawn rainbows hang limp in the windows of well-wishing families, and you can almost hear the claps as you walk by. The 'Black Lives Matter' sign that's sat in the window of the 'Taking Part On Inverness Place' can be seen in many more windows of the conurbations of our fair city. The mismatch of any given high-street is particularly poignant in its demonstration of the fragmented world we find ourselves in, with the juxtaposition between refurbished and revamped eateries and watering holes sat next to empty units that still have their A4 Times New Roman print outs; 'Due to government restrictions put in place to combat Covid-19, we've had to close our doors for now. We look forward to seeing you all soon!'.
We are in a place between what came last and what came next, which both places us at a point of uncertainty, and in a position to determine what the link between 'last' and 'next' shall be. One of the myriad visions for a post-pandemic world that is of both economic and ecological concern is that of the aviation industry bailouts that are being called for all across the globe, including in the UK. As it stands in Europe at time of writing, โฌ32bn has been requested in financial aid with varying degrees of stipulation in the different respective agreements, but with โno binding environmental conditions for airlines to clean up their actโ (Greenpeace European Unit 2020).
The aviation industry is integral. Not only is it of significant logistical importance in many of modern societal infrastructures, it's a massive part of the consumer economy. At this point, we don't have the choice (or in my eyes, the reason) to say 'No More Planes'. As noted by Michael Gill, Executive Director of ATAG (Air Transport Action Group) regarding the aviation industry โif it were a country, would be the 20th largest economy in the world, supporting 65.5 million jobs and nearly three trillion dollars in economic impactโ (Social and Economic Benefits of Aviation 2020). Though just because it's important doesn't mean we have to grit and bear our teeth and simply accept that one of the largest contributors to carbon pollution (Bannon E 2020) needs our money to carry on operating.
When entering into 'The New Normal', when the population's aggregated output is being divvied out to all the compartments of our culture that require it, we find ourselves in a position to decide exactly how that money is spent.
Just imagine. ยฃ1bn for the arts community in Wales. How many incredibly important things could be said, and with the finance to find those words a platform? Perhaps our Cardiff nightlife could have a cash infusion that stops yet another cherished venue closing down and being developed over. And then the other dozens of billions of pounds at play here? Perhaps you, reading this right now, could receive a stipend from the government each month in form of Universal Basic Income, meaning that your rent and bills were paid each month no matter how the uncertainties of life affect you giving you time to contribute culturally and socially alongside earning a wage.
That sounds nice doesn't it? Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a magic money tree! But there is a national budget, which as members of a democracy we decide how to spend. We don't need to take this lying down.
When all these big important people with big important bank accounts ask for money, we can place conditions. We can say 'Yes, your industry is important, but our climate is more important than your pocket'. We are in the position to demand that the aviation industry of 'The New Normal' is one that reflects the normality that we desperately need to adopt to ensure our prosperity. More than that, we are in the position that it's our responsibility, our moral obligation, to ensure that our hard earned money is spent ethically. The reason that these bodies have such power to disregard the future of the environment for the current condition of their pockets is that they provide infrastructure that we place value on, that we spend money on. And the only reason that the industry's action does not reflect what is becoming clear to be the national and international will of the people is that we give them money anyway.
Consider the situation that a nation provides financial aid or other such resource to another which is unanimously held as culprit to the infringement of human rights. Not difficult to imagine, considering the paradigm we find ourselves within. There is significant precedent to the acceptance that such economic ties are to be considered improper, by government and governed alike. As recently as the past few years we have seen members of the global community consider these violations reason enough to take a stand. The European Union has imposed restrictions and processes of reform on its own member states for perceived danger to the upholding of values regarding the treatment of their population and others (Roth 2019), let alone the many wars we've fought in the name of 'liberty'.
So why is it that when we consider the climate crisis and its culprits we do not consider their actions to be palpable to the violation of the rights of future humans? In Wales, we have adopted a strong culture of sustainability, with the Assembly government reflecting that element of the public conscience to a promising extent. We have legislation in place that requires public bodies to accept their responsibility towards the climate and the constituents of our future society (Great Britain 2015), as mentioned in a recent letter from The Emergency Room to Cardiff Airportโs new Chair, Wayne Harvey. In the letter, it was encouraged that a discussion regarding Cardiff Airportโs 2040 Master Plan in regards to sustainability should be opened, and that the Airportโs coordinators should consider conservation of our environment to be a priority. In this situation, the Airport has already received significant financial aid from the Welsh Government, with a call being made for further aid from Westminster (Pyke 2020). This cultural action towards a reciprocal exchange of ideas, this conversation, is where we the people may make our stand. Greenpeace have begun a petition (Letter to the Chancellor: No Blank Cheques for Big Polluters 2020) encouraging those with a concern for our climate to 'Tell Chancellor Rishi Sunak, that if he gives airlines a bailout, then they must protect their workers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions' (the petition can be found here: https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/.../no-free-airline-bailout).
Here we find ourselves. On the precipice of not just 'The New Normal', but a new world. With our voices, we have the power to shape what this world will look like. To refer to my last blog for The Emergency Room, we have the chance and the choice to carry our convictions with us as cultural actors, and make sure that the zeitgeist is a tool of exchange, that our cultural consciousness is reflected in our institutional and systemic transformation. This issue is massively important. The fact that โleft unchecked global aviation will regenerate an estimated 43 metric gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions through 2050, constituting almost 5% of the global emissions allowable to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees celsiusโ (Airplane Emissions 2020) cannot be ignored, nor can our onus to ensure that this 'checking' is done responsibly. Pandemic has pulled the world apart. It is utterly vital that we do everything we can to rebuild the connections that allow the sustainable existence of humanity at its current scale, and aviation is undeniably a necessary part of that, economically, socially, and logistically. However, we must listen to the global calls for reformation and understand that it must be people that matter, not some few people's pockets, and that it must be the land beneath us that we prioritise and respect, not the deed for that land or who holds it.
๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐? ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐พ๐ก๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐, ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ค๐ฌ: patreon.com/theemergencyroom
๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐
Airplane Emissions 2020, viewed 06 August 2020 https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/.../airpla.../index.html
Bannon E 2020, Ryanair Europes 7th biggest carbon polluter last year as aviation emissions continued to grow, viewed 03 August 2020, https://www.transportenvironment.org/.../ryanair-europe.../
Great Britain Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. [online] London: The Stationery Office [Viewed 04 August 2020]. Available from: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2015/2/contents/enacted
Greenpeace European Unit 2020, Airline Bailouts Set To Double To โฌ26bn as countries fail to impose binding green conditions, viewed 03 August 2020, https://www.greenpeace.org/.../airlines-polluters.../
Letter to the Chancellor: No Blank Cheques for Big Polluters 2020, viewed 05 August 2020 https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/.../no-free-airline-bailout
Pike C 2020, Cardiff Airport puts staff on furlough as it receives Welsh Government Funding, viewed 04 August 2020, https://www.walesonline.co.uk/.../cardiff-airport...
Roth K 2019, Europen Union Events of 2018, Viewed 04 August 2020, https://www.hrw.org/.../2019/country-chapters/european-union
Social and Economic Benefits of Aviation 2020, viewed 05 August 2020, https://www.atag.org/.../social-and-economic-benefits-of....
This post was written by Matt Prosser.
I'm a writer, speaker, and musician in disguise as a retail worker -ย trying to write, speak, and music my way to a better world and more comfortable clothing. I've written a lot but shared too little, though that's something I'm trying to change.
Commentaires