Facing our Inner Conflicts; Confessions of an Environmentalist Airline Pilot

‘I deeply care about maintaining a liveable future on our planet, but who am I to speak out when I burn fossil fuels for a living?’… ‘I am worried whether or not my children’s generation will have food, water, breathable air and a safe environment but how can I take action when I work for a company that is intricately linked to climate and ecological breakdown?’… ‘I feel profoundly sad at the loss of species and ecosystems but engaging in any kind of environmental action would be so hypocritical given the life that I live.’

When people have asked me about my professional choices, I have found myself saying something like…

‘…turns out I was an environmentalist trapped in an airline pilot’s body’.

There is some truth in this and it does help to briefly and light-heartedly summarise why I chose to stop flying, but at the same time, it feels slightly misleading.

At some level, l believe that most people are environmentalists. Anyone who wishes for a safe and habitable future must (consciously or not) have a vested interest in the world that nourishes and protects us.

It is my belief that very many of us are in some way conflicted between the life that we live and our deepest desire for the survival of our children…