Fly me to the moon, apparently it heats the planet less than eating a hamburger

Sir Richard Branson does his best to reduce his carbon footprint ... by flying in one of his jets. Photo: Jane Dempster

Coal kills. Simon Evans, The Australian Financial Review, yesterday:

“Coal is having its asbestos moment,” (federal Greens MP Adam) Bandt … (said and) directors of coal-fired power station companies … (are) “merchants of death”.

Pretend it’s World War III and coal is the Nazi. Gus Gos­well and Lauren Day, ABC News online, Wednesday:

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has likened climate change to World War III and criticised the Australian government for failing to do more to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s going to need the world to take this problem very, very seriously,” he told 7.30. “Let’s pretend this is World War III … I think (the Australian government) needs to do a lot more and coal is definitely, I’m afraid, something that should be a thing of the past.” Sir Richard is presently training to be an astronaut in the hope of travelling to space through his Virgin Gal­actic enterprise.

Let’s pretend space travel is green. Nicholas Schmidle, The New Yorker, August 20:

Three months ago, (Richard) Branson called me from Necker, his private island in the Caribbean, and said … “I believe that, once people have gone to space, they come back with renewed enthusiasm to try and tackle what is happening on this planet.”

Earth to Branson, how big is your carbon footprint? Leo Hickman, The Guardian, May 12, 2009:

The laws of physics tell us that it takes an awful lot of energy to escape the Earth’s gravity — and that means plenty of rocket fuel. Virgin Galactic … has presented a positive spin, as is the hallmark of any Virgin venture … (saying) the “CO2 emissions per passenger on a space flight will be equivalent to approximately 60 per cent of a per passenger return commercial London/New York flight”. It’s hard to see how that calculation stacks up, but Virgin has yet to break down these figures, so we have no real way of knowing … Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn added another extraordinary environmental claim to his growing collection … (saying) viewing Earth from space would transform people’s attitudes to the environment … Isn’t this a rather extravagant … way to reach such a conclusion … Couldn’t they just watch a David Attenborough documentary like the rest of us?

Pretend it’s World War III and cows are the Nazis. Annabel Fenwick Elliot, Britain’s The Telegraph, May 25:

We’ve already touched on saving the planet … but what might this actually involve, I persist? It shouldn’t be ignored that here is a man who says he’s concerned with the issues of climate change, at the helm of a major airline. But it’s a lesser-known fact … that cattle farming is responsible for … more greenhouse gases than … (all) forms of transport put together. “I’ve stopped eating beef,” (Branson) says …

How green is my private jet? Matier and Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, September 16:

One of the hottest spots during the just-concluded Global Climate Action Summit was the private runway at San Francisco International Airport, where … corporate jet traffic was up 30 per cent … The three-day climate confab drew more than 4000 elected officials, business executives and environmentalists … (many of whom flew in on private jets) … (It) was organised by Gov Jerry Brown … (who in 2015) flew with real estate mega-millionaire and major Democratic Party donor George Marcus via private jet to a climate change conference at the Vatican … the go-green governor (also) jetted off with Marcus for a two-week trip … in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.