Airport News
Miliband supports Heathrow expansion
Fri, 09 May, 2008
The foreign secretary has dismissed claims from some quarters that a third runway at London Heathrow Airport is incompatible with the government's green agenda.
Speaking on BBC Two's Newsnight, David Miliband insisted that reducing carbon emissions could not be achieved by just focusing on aviation.
He said it does not matter how carbon reductions are reduced but what matters is that they come down "in total".
"We should remember aviation is actually six per cent of the total," he stated.
"It does not matter if we reduce them from buildings or from aviation or from surface transport."
He continued by saying that the climate change bill is going to require UK carbon emissions to come down by at least 60 per cent by the middle of the century.
Earlier this month, the thinktank Future Heathrow warned that failure to press ahead with growth at London Heathrow Airport is "not an option".