Add another one to the “frightening the neighbors with sudden roars of laughter” category:
Saddled with long dark winters at home, Swedes have for decades been frequent flyers seeking out sunnier climes, but a growing number are changing their ways because of air travel’s impact on the climate.
“Flygskam”, or flight shame, has become a buzz word referring to feeling guilt over the environmental effects of flying, contributing to a trend that has more and more Swedes, mainly young, opting to travel by train to ease their conscience.
Spearheading the movement for trains-over-planes is Sweden’s own Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate school striker who refuses to fly, travelling by rail to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the climate summit in Katowice, Poland.
Well, isn’t that just too precious. Of course, the Swedes can afford to do this because their poxy country is no more than a few miles from everywhere in Yurp, and they can indulge their foolishness accordingly.
I think we should help them out by banning all Swedish passport holders from entering the United States by air. (And by ground if they landed in Canada or Mexico first, to try to get round the ban.)
All aboard the Stockholm–New York Express…
I have always said that one of the differences between Americans and Europeans is that Americans think 150 years is old, and Europeans think 150 miles is a long way away.
Consider that remark stolen.
I wonder if anyone has ever done an actual study comparing the environmental impact between air and rail that included the full infrastructure and maintenance costs of rail including such watermelon favorites as impact on animals having to cross tracks, moving earth around to create the right of ways etc.
Most of the ones I’ve seen only look at operations. Sort of like not recognizing that most electric cars (at least in the US) are actually powered by coal, nuclear, or natural gas.
I don’t have a firm opinion on what such a study would show, but it would be interesting.
OK, now I want them to bring the 707s and DC-8s out of retirement. I loved hearing those four massive engines at full throttle, and watch that spent JP-4 exhaust piss off all the commies. Good times!
Yes, because trains don’t run on any kind of fossil fuels; diesel, electricity from coal, gas, etc. They all run on happy thoughts and dolphin farts, which we all know are environmentally neutral.