Tourists are the new cause of global warming
I took some heat for an earlier blog about global warming and its possible impact on the RV industry. I was accused of all sorts of things by phone, e-mail and in blog replies. I was accused of being anti-environment, of having my head in the sand, and of being a “global warming denier.” One guy in France promised to never read RV Trade Digest again. Well it appears as though my instincts were correct. In an article out of Madrid, Spain, an agency has identified another primary source of global warming — tourists.
“Holidaymakers may be ruining their favorite destinations through pollution and greenhouse gases, making the tourism industry one of the world’s worst polluters, experts say,” the article noted.
Even European trade associations designed to promote tourism are admitting that tourists are horrible for the environment. Here’s what else the article noted:
“Tourism is unfortunately one of the vectors of (climate) change at the moment and contributes, through its excesses, to the process of global warming,” World Tourism Organisation (WTO) director general Francesco Frangialli told an international conference on meteorology in Madrid this week. “In 2006, 842 million people took a holiday in a foreign country and 40 percent of them flew to their destinations. That’s 336 million people, or more than the population of the United States, taking trips which spew greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.”
You can read the full-text of the “objective” news article by visiting this site. I highly encourage anyone interested in knowing how environmentalists intend to shut down the RV industry to read this article. Although activists are currently targeting the airline industry, this is only the first salvo in their war against anything pleasurable. The environmentalists’ true mission could be discerned by reading the final paragraph of the “news” story:
“That could mean higher air fares, but some in the travel industry believe tourists would be ready to pay a little more to protect the places they love,” the article noted.
Please allow me to interpret liberal-speak. The writer is actually saying, “People who love to travel can expect to pay more in taxes and fees to fly anywhere, especially to popular tourist destinations. Once there, they can expect to may more in taxes and fees to enjoy their vacations.” In our industry, the same philosophy could be applied. Imagine reading a story someday soon in the New York Times that says, “That could mean higher prices for recreation vehicles, but some in the RV industry believe RVers would be ready to pay a little more to protect the places they love and the lifestyle they enjoy.” Over the next five years, the assault on active environmentalists (people who love playing outdoors) by environmental activists (people who hate corporations and America) working to ”save the planet” from the “global warming catastrophe” will be fast, fierce and completely frivolous. To add legitimacy to their arguments, expect activists to develop and financially back an organization like Naturists Organized to Bolster Healthy Environmentally-Appropriate Diversions and Sports (NOBHEADS). This group’s sole job will be to issue press release after press release espousing how RV, boat, ATV and snowmobile owners and dealers actually agree that restrictions on their use should be implemented, and that stricter CAFE standards be adopted — even if it means they can’t have vehicles with enough power to tow trailers. There won’t be a shred of truth to the releases, but who cares if it gets five minutes on CNN. Their membership will number in the tens of thousands because the Sierra Club will include concurrent membership in the NOBHEADS group as a value-added service. It’s amazing how many people don’t see how this farce will affect the viability of our industry. They don’t see how global warming nuts will seek to raise taxes and, thus prices, on fuel to punish people with big cars, trucks and motorhomes. They don’t see how the activists will seek to prevent those carbon-emitting vehicles from being near any beach, forest, desert, mountain, stream, lake, river or wooded area where they can “endanger the fragile ecosystem protecting the planet.” Even carbon-emitting humans will be banned from these eco-areas. The activists will seek to block any construction of any new RV park on the grounds that building it will just encourage more use of these unnecessary and polluting vehicles. Just like squirrels who will relentlessly attempt to gain access into a “squirrel-proof” bird feeder until they can actually savor the sunflower seeds, environmental activists will relentlessly bombard politicians with junk science and mass hysteria until they can savor a sweet victory in which nobody can use anything but feet to recreate outdoors — and only on approved trails.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I hsve trust in the climatologist experts who believe that it is liklely that global wwarming will have catastrophic effects on mankind unless drastic steps are taken soon to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60-80%.
To greatly reduce our use of energy we will have to forego many pleasures such as tourism What we do will be a test of our moral character and this seems lacking in our political leaders
The RV industtry is probably safe until the latter half of this century when Americans start to suffer. .