Suitably Flip

A Liberal Dilemma

If new statistics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics are any indication, we may need Al Gore now more than ever.  2006 was officially the worst year in history for airline travel delays.

The culprit:  everyone's favorite boogeyman.

Airline delays increased sharply last year to record highs because of a rash of bad weather starting in the fall that shut airports and stranded thousands of passengers, according to federal data obtained by USA TODAY.

By several measures, airline delays exceeded those in 1999 and 2000, when thunderstorms created such chaos in schedules that passengers revolted and Congress threatened to take action against carriers.

Oh, Congress.

Let's pick a scapegoat and stick with it though.  My outrage is becoming alarmingly unfocused.

If unusual weather was indeed to blame for the record-setting delays, then it's hard to get angry at the carriers.  If, on the other hand, the delays were caused by "weather" in the sense that your friendly neighborhood carrier simply prefers to pass the buck on to God when committing avoidable errors that trip up the schedule, then we may proceed to shake our fists righteously at the airlines.  Hearings, subpoenas, all that good stuff.  But if that's the case, it takes a bit of wind out of the climate change sail.

It's a tough call.  Is it more fashionable to villify one specific industry of greedy fatcats for exploiting their customers or the entirety of non-hybrid-driving corporate America for their Earth-unfriendly ways?

I know I'm aggrieved; I'm just not sure by whom.

Comments

A Liberal Dilemma

If new statistics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics are any indication, we may need Al Gore now more than ever.  2006 was officially the worst year in history for airline travel delays.

The culprit:  everyone's favorite boogeyman.

Airline delays increased sharply last year to record highs because of a rash of bad weather starting in the fall that shut airports and stranded thousands of passengers, according to federal data obtained by USA TODAY.

By several measures, airline delays exceeded those in 1999 and 2000, when thunderstorms created such chaos in schedules that passengers revolted and Congress threatened to take action against carriers.

Oh, Congress.

Let's pick a scapegoat and stick with it though.  My outrage is becoming alarmingly unfocused.

If unusual weather was indeed to blame for the record-setting delays, then it's hard to get angry at the carriers.  If, on the other hand, the delays were caused by "weather" in the sense that your friendly neighborhood carrier simply prefers to pass the buck on to God when committing avoidable errors that trip up the schedule, then we may proceed to shake our fists righteously at the airlines.  Hearings, subpoenas, all that good stuff.  But if that's the case, it takes a bit of wind out of the climate change sail.

It's a tough call.  Is it more fashionable to villify one specific industry of greedy fatcats for exploiting their customers or the entirety of non-hybrid-driving corporate America for their Earth-unfriendly ways?

I know I'm aggrieved; I'm just not sure by whom.