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TAFF
I've been asked if I'd like to be a candidate for TAFF and I'm seriously considering it.
It's an odd situation for me as I haven't flown since 2001 (I used to go regularly to US conventions and I went to Eclecticon in New Jersey shortly after 9/11 because I was damned if terrorists were going to stop me visiting my friends in America)
Not long after that, I became aware of the carbon footprint of a typical flight - and I made the decision to give up overseas travel.
However, in the case of TAFF, someone is going to go in any case, so the carbon footprint does not change if I go instead of someone else.
I have mixed feelings about TAFF, largely because it involves people flying. On the other hand, it's the only way I'll ever see America again. (having looked into carbon offset schemes, I concluded that a lot of them were pure greenwash and none of them could actually absorb carbon here and now. Trees are all very well, but if you plant trees now, it'll take them around thirty years to absorb your carbon - and a lot of damage will have been done in that time.)
Should I stand? Am I betraying my principles by doing so?
It's an odd situation for me as I haven't flown since 2001 (I used to go regularly to US conventions and I went to Eclecticon in New Jersey shortly after 9/11 because I was damned if terrorists were going to stop me visiting my friends in America)
Not long after that, I became aware of the carbon footprint of a typical flight - and I made the decision to give up overseas travel.
However, in the case of TAFF, someone is going to go in any case, so the carbon footprint does not change if I go instead of someone else.
I have mixed feelings about TAFF, largely because it involves people flying. On the other hand, it's the only way I'll ever see America again. (having looked into carbon offset schemes, I concluded that a lot of them were pure greenwash and none of them could actually absorb carbon here and now. Trees are all very well, but if you plant trees now, it'll take them around thirty years to absorb your carbon - and a lot of damage will have been done in that time.)
Should I stand? Am I betraying my principles by doing so?
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As part of your TAFF duties you might want to raise the issue of environmentalism in fandom, and perhaps persuade others to fly less.
Just encourage the colonials to take up poi, not NW Morris!
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It might add to the trip's report: "Taff by Zeppelin" or something.
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With respect… that seems a pretty weak argument. Someone who really cares about reducing carbon emissions would surely be trying to talk other people out of applying for TAFF, not joining them in it.
"Someone else would have done it if I hadn't" can be used to attempt to justify all sorts of immoral behaviour, but I don't think it really stands up.
(NB of course what your principles are, and how you choose to stick by them, is none of my business… but you did ask, so I'm answering in the abstract.)
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If you think you are a good candidate and you want to be in the position of having a certain level of obligation to fandom, and you actually want to go over and be an ambassador, then maybe. But you didn't really mention any of that, you just talked about getting to see America again.
> Am I betraying my principles by doing so?
Yes, I think you are if you believe we shouldn't be flying abroad for conventions. If you don't then somebody else will is about as a strong as an argument that goes, "well, the plane is going to be flying anyway, I might as well be sitting on it".
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'Seeing America' was more my shorthand for having contact with American fans.
The plane flying anyway is a different argument. If I fill a seat on a plane that would otherwise be unoccupied, then the plane will use more fuel. But if it's a case of either myself or John going, then it's no change in the footprint. (I've asked John if he would go to Reno, if I stood and he lost the race. If the answer is 'yes' then I definitely will not stand as that would mean two journeys being made.)
I'm still in two minds over this. It's also occurred to me since I originally posted that the rules (if I understand them correctly), that if John is the only candidate then there will be no race. That would invalidate the argument in any case as my entering the race would cause a flight to happen that would not otherwise take place. I think this one may be the clincher.
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Personally, although I'd like to go to the USA sometime, I refuse to participate in the nonsense of Security Theatre at both ends which assumes that everyone who wants to travel on a plane or visit the States is a potential terrorist and must be ritually humiliated and body scanned despite the unsurprising fact that this has *NEVER* caught a terrorist.
(The argument that "it proves it works" is about as realistic as CMOT Dibbler's amulets which protect you against crocodile bites which must work because nobody who's bought one has ever been bitten by a crocodile...)
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Or you could get British fandom to sponsor a tree planting for you? That would be cool.
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eg. Planting a tree soaks up carbon over a thirty year timescale. That means the carbon has 30 years to do damage in - and the next 30 years are going to be absolutely critical.
Also, the tree merely replaces carbon lost through cutting down tree cover in the first place - my carbon is additional to that lost natural carbon. In other words, planting a tree (which I do anyway through several charities I support) doesn't remove the amount of carbon from fossil fuels.
Thirdly, I can't guarantee the tree will remain long-term. Much carbon offsetting involves trees that are not cared for after planting, or in unstable areas (where the trees might get felled again) or in areas where climate change might make the area unsuitable for trees. There's also a frequent problem with double-accounting whereby the same tree gets counted against paid offsets, and national carbon targets as well.
I'd so much love it to work, but I looked into it quite deeply when I was first looking into my feelings about flying. If there was a form of off-set that reliably soaked up carbon tomorrow and locked it away for ever, then I'd buy it like a shot.