Mongabay Newscast12 Nov 2024

Grounded: This pilot quit flying to help the aviation industry change, for the better

Todd Smith wanted to be a pilot since the age of 5, but an epiphany spurred by seeing a retreating ice cap in Peru revealed that his love of flying conflicted with the planetary harm his industry was causing.

"That was the first seed that was planted, and I was witnessing in that moment climate change and mass tourism firsthand," he says.

Today, Smith is co-founder of Safe Landing, an organization dedicated to advocating for sustainable aviation reform to adapt to the realities of climate change and ensure the future employment of airline workers. On the latest Mongabay Newscast, he details his journey to leave the industry, and shares what he thinks the airline industry needs to change to in order to adapt to our new climate-changed reality.

Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.

Image: Private jet flights account for a small fraction of aviation's overall emissions — around 4% — though the burden is up to 10 times more per passenger compared to a commercial flight, according to a recent report. Image by lillolillolillo via Pixabay (Public domain).

---

Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction: Todd Smith

(02:10) From airline pilot to climate activist

(12:10) The origins of Safe Landing

(24:04) The future of aviation on a limited carbon budget

(37:10) The inequities of flying

(45:53) Credits

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(370)

'Remembering Wildlife' before it goes extinct

British wildlife photographer Margot Raggett says she created the book Remembering Elephants after she heard David Attenborough say, "The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren ma...

18 Aug 46min

Historic fire seasons are the 'new normal' without 'serious action' on climate change

Elizabeth Goldman is a co-director of Global Nature Watch, previously known as Global Forest Watch, a database measuring forest loss that's frequently cited in Mongabay reporting. She joins this week'...

11 Aug 28min

The 'quiet revolution' inspired by Delhi's urban wildlife

In her upcoming book, My Wild City: Finding Nature, Meaning, and Hope in India's Capital, conservation biologist Neha Sinha takes readers to the hidden and not-so-hidden ecosystems of India's largest...

4 Aug 54min

Why are forests in Liberia disappearing?

On this week's episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with features writer Ashoka Mukpo, who traveled to southeastern Liberia to investigate what satellite images indicated was a spike in deforest...

28 Jul 38min

Oil has brought destruction to the Niger Delta; women and human rights may save it

On this week's episode of the Mongabay Newscast, I speak with travel writer Noo Saro-Wiwa. She has documented the violence and natural destruction that the presence of oil companies have brought to th...

21 Jul 42min

The Mediterranean Sea's beauty hides an ecosystem under pressure

The Mediterranean Sea accounts for less than 1% of the world's ocean surface water, but it contains roughly 18% of global marine biodiversity. It is home to 150 million people along its coastline (rou...

14 Jul 33min

Wildlife crossings are having a moment

Nearly three years ago, Newscast guest, author and journalist Ben Goldfarb discussed his book Crossings, which is about wildlife crossings and road ecology. Wildlife crossings help reconnect habitats...

7 Jul 37min

The radical plan to rethink work, wealth and planetary well-being

A group of more than 40 researchers spent 20 months devising a plan for the world to achieve ecological sustainability within planetary boundaries, all while seeing incomes rise for 98% of the global ...

30 Jun 52min