Some breaking news: Plans for a third runway at Heathrow were set back today after a high court ruling in favour of a coalition of local councils and climate change campaigners. The coalition brought together Greenpeace and the Campaign to Protect Rural England with West London MPs, councillors and local action groups. Bringing their case against the Department of Transport, the coalition argued that the economic case for the airport expansion was unfounded, that it would make Britain’s climate change goals unreachable, and that the consultation process was unfair. Today Lord Justice Carnwarth declared the expansion plans ‘untenable’, a major victory for campaigners.
Local residents will breathe a sigh of relief at the verdict, which will require the government to make their case for the runway again from scratch. Since this plan has been in the works for several years, this could well be the end of the Heathrow expansion. Which will save us opening a new runway just in time for peak oil to make aviation economically unviable.
- More on the airplot, and on Heathrow’s broken promises.
The Earthbound Report 