Greenpeace shocked over Parliament’s plane travels

Photo: Paul Kleiven / NTB scanpix

The environmental organisation Greenpeace has gained access to Parliament’s air travel, which shows that the representatives fly an average of 18 domestic flights each day.

In total, there are 6824 flights, or around 40 trips per representative per year on average. Foreign travel is additional, writes Dagbladet.

“We are in the midst of a climate crisis. Then it’s really embarrassing and a disclaimer of liability that those who actually have the opportunity to do something about it are flying like never before,” Greenpeace leader Frode Pleym told the newspaper.

13 of the 18 daily flights travel between Oslo and one of Norway’s largest cities. Travel Pleym believes is unnecessary.

“It is the Parliament that is responsible for the investments in transport. In 1975 it took 6 hours and 3 minutes to travel by train to Bergen. Now it takes 6.5 hours. It does so because those we have chosen to represent us have not prioritised rail. Then you cannot blame the time it takes and it is important to meet voters, when you as a politician have led us in that direction,” he says. It places the “flight shame” where it should be, with the politicians.

Pleym receives support from Miljøpartiet De Grønne’s (Green Party) parliamentary representative Une Aina Bastholm.

“Had the politicians traveled more by train, they might also have been more interested in investing in a better train service. It becomes very wrong when the Parliament has become one of the airline’s best customers,” Bastholm believes.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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