Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Fighting Climate Change By Creating It Vacation

The NY Times writes about Getaways That Are ‘Guilt Free’:

Abercrombie & Kent, a high-end tour operator perhaps best known for its elite safaris, is offering Philanthropic Journeys, a collection of luxury tours that include elements of volunteering or giving back to the visited community. On sale now is a two-week trip, Fighting Climate Change in Antarctica, from $5,697 a person if booked by June 30. Travelers see penguin colonies, visit a working scientific station and help deliver equipment designed to measure the impact of global warming in the region.
Not sure how guilt free that getaway is given that just one week earlier the NY Times published an article on how Hillary Clinton is pushing to restrict travel to Antarctica to protect the environment. And off hand, I can't think of a vacation that would emit more CO2 into the atmosphere than one that includes a round trip airplane ride to Antarctica. I would rename it the Fight Climate Change By Creating It Vacation: see Antarctica before people like you cause it to melt away.

2 comments:

Audacious Epigone said...

Great post. I can think of no better distinction between true environmentalists like yourself and image-conscious whiterpeople (those who would buy into the idea that somehow by travelling by automobile and then by plane and then by sea to and through Antarctica they are saving the planet).

Fat Knowledge said...

It is one of my pet peeves that many people ignore air travel when calculating their environmental impact. It is like dieters that count all their calories, well except for those cookies that ate when they got really hungry.

But, I think some whiterpeople are getting in on this, as I believe Lonely Planet now talks about how to reduce the carbon footprint of your trips by taking fewer longer trips and maximizing the benefit you get from each plane trip.

And I am still down with the whiterpeople who want to go on vacations using Earthwatch.

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