> - The energy spent complaining about the impact flying has could be
> better spent on other more useful things (like cargo ships or clean
> electricity)
Point taken, the real issue is we need a massive, Federally-funded shift towards renewable energy. For all the shortcomings of the Red-Green coalition in Germany, they did launch an energy revolution: today Germany generates an astounding 11.8% of its electricity from renewables, up from 3.2% in 1991. (I think the comparable US figure dropped from 11% in 1990 to 10% in 2005.) The German federal government has lots of excellent data and charts here (yes, it's in English):
http://www.bmu.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/hintergrund_zahlen2006_eng.pdf
The genius of a renewable program is that it combines three struggles into one: it creates high-wage jobs, it spawns technological innovation, and it contributes to ecological sanity.
-- DRR