Here’s to guilt-free flying

Maj a Rosen gave up flying a decade ago out of concern for its environmental impact. But when she became a mother and started hanging out with other parents, she didn’t bring it up, even when the conversation turned to flying. It would have 【小题1】 the mood.

Then in April 2018, her home country of Sweden 【小题2】 a tax on aviation (飞行).The climate impacts of flying were on the evening news and the mood changed. Rosen【小题3】 the moment. With her neighbor Lotta Hammar, she launched a campaign called “We stay on the ground”, which has【小题4】10,000 people to commit to avoid flights in 2019.

Kudos. But here’s the 【小题5】 truth: in the grand scheme of things, barely anyone will follow suit. The 【小题6】 classes tend to have a lot to say about the eco benefits of avoiding meat, cycling and eating locally sourced food. But that 【小题7】 generally disappears when it comes to flying.

We can’t rely on international 【小题8】 to stop aviation emission either. Yes, the UN has fixed up a deal to cap aviation emissions beyond 2020. But it lacks real bite, allowing airlines to continue emitting carbon provided they offset (抵消)it.

All this means we could really do with green tech riding to the rescue. Here, at least, there is a little good news. Even rather simple measures like freeing planes to fly in straighter lines could 【小题9】 cut carbon emissions. Hybrid (混合动力的)electric aircraft are also the pipeline. And we already know that planes can mix up to 50 per cent biofuels into their tanks and fly safely.

It’s time to redouble our【小题10】 to make planes green. In the meantime, if you are still looking for a New Year’s resolution, you might want to think about joining those 105000 Swedes.

When asked by a TV reporter to talk about air and water quality in his hometown, Qi Mu noted, “The air is great now, and we can take more walks and enjoy being outdoors again.” He felt quite pleased because the villagers were living 【小题1】 with nature once more. However, he could not forget about an earlier time when his village had been struggling with a serious air quality problem.

In the 1990s, 【小题2】 from a nearby city was usually brought to the village. “How can we make use of this?” the villagers wondered. Soon they found that garbage could be used to feed pigs. “Over the next few years, 【小题3】of pig farms were set up,” Qi recalled. But then nobody in the village wanted to open their windows. “The smell from the garbage and pig waste was making us sick,” Qi said. The numbers of mosquitoes and flies were also horrifying. “Under such circumstances, no single women wanted to marry anyone in our village and move here,” Qi sighed.

The villagers could no longer tolerate the situation. So an【小题4】 was launched and a “clean-up” campaign was added to the government agenda, including 【小题5】 large vehicles from passing through the village. Garbage from the city was no longer disposed of in the village, and more trees were planted. “We can all breathe more freely now that the natural beauty of our village has been【小题6】,” said Qi.

Pollution is our great 【小题1】. Pollution from 【小题2】 is a danger to our health, and may even 【小题3】 people. Factories sometimes pollute the rivers, and farmers cannot use the water for their crops. Pollution 【小题4】 over cities and villages, and that 【小题5】 even more danger. Cars use a lot of oil and cause pollution, too.