For all of those of us interested in climate change and sustainable transportation, something very interesting happened in 1944. No it wasn't the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, it was the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The product of this important meeting was the International Civil Aviation Organization, based in Montreal, ironically the site of a recent international conference on climate change. That 52 states signed the Convention on December 7, 1944 makes me assume that the Axis powers were invited too. War never gets in the way of business it seems.

The Convention is important because it laid the groundwork for the explosion of the most polluting and climate change fuelling form of transportation: air travel. How did it do it? It made aircraft fuel tax exempt for all international flights and this has remained the case ever since, reinforced in countless treaties. So we (and I include myself in this) have had a realtively free ride ever since. Airlines have received a free subsidy against other more sustainable forms of transportation such as passenger rail.

Applying the same level of taxation to air fuel as to automobile gasoline or diesel would doom this tenuous industry but restore some balance and sanity to our affluent lives. There would be no annual trips to Mexico or Cuba for lucky gringos and gringas. We would be forced to develop other forms of travel such as rail to get around. Having lived in Britain, how does it make sense that it's cheaper to fly to another country than to take the train from the Leeds to London?

Shockingly air travel not only releases dramatically high levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants but when travelling at 35,000 feet, burning jet fuel releases water vapour which turns into ice crystals in the upper troposphere and traps the earth's heat (source). So there's a double whammy when it comes to climate change.

But what the hell right? It's my right to take that vacation down south. I worked hard enough and deserve it and it'll shut those kids up. Imagine how much they'll complain when climate change gets done with their futures. No more cheap flights will be the least of their worries.