The Pipe Dream Of Clean Travel

Hey Boeing engineers. Alex Steffan over at WorldChanging.org is advocating for an X-Prize for environmentally-friendly air travel, and we're with him. Seattle loves to travel. It's pretty safe to say that as a city we're of the opinion that the more people travel great distances, the better things are. We reach out, make connections, bring some culture back with us, and leave some dollars behind - It's great for everyone. It's terrible for the Earth, unfortunately - Not as bad as cars, but still terrible, and getting worse. You built these planes and you know what they emit. Don't let Seattle's environmental legacy be the 747.

Anyone from Boeing who gets in touch with Seattlest and convinces us that we're not going to have to stop traveling by air in order to reverse global warming is eligible for a Seattlest prize pack - call it the Z-Prize. We need to get from here to there quickly, cheaply, and cleanly, and we need to be there in person - Don't try to sell us on the wonders of virtual travel. Now go sharpen your pencils and get to work.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dan in News on September 28, 2006 3:20 PM

Comments [rss]

MvB

International travel spreads the pandemics. I'd like to see a way to clean the travel bugs outta the population, too. I mean, while they're at it.

Sben

Well, it's not really what you're looking for, but Expedia offers carbon offsets when you buy a flight. $6 for a round-trip to L.A.

I agree that it would be nicer to have air flight that doesn't pump (literally) tons of carbon directly into the atmosphere.

(Disclaimer: I work for Expedia.)