# FILE NAME: 00002306.soc
# TITLE: should we raise airline taxes? [6fb49aa1834bb5c3f2096b814168ede8]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - In general, the group was opposed to raising airline taxes. The main reasons for this were that it would be unfair to make poorer people pay more to travel, and that it would also hurt the aviation industry, which is a major employer in the UK. However, the group did agree that airline travel is a major contributor to climate change, and that the issue of climate change needs to be addressed. The group suggested that the government could use the revenue from airline taxes to invest in renewable energy and other green initiatives.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - “I believe we should raise airline taxes. This would offset an individual traveller's carbon footprint. The taxes could then be used in initiatives to offset a global carbon footprint in areas affected most by climate change. Airline travel causes a lot of CO2 emissions and hence contributes to climate change. Most short-haul airline travel is fairly unnecessary and could easily be replaced by (less emissions intense) train or high speed train travel. Raising airline taxes would make it more expensive to travel and only absolutely necessary airline travel would happen. On the other side it would just mostly impact poorer people more, as wealthy people can still afford to travel and even a higher tax would not deter them. This is an issue we need to take into consideration. In addition to raising taxes, government subsidies should be used to improve train travel and make it an affordable and accessible option for people who want to travel the world, but don't want to contribute to climate change.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - “I believe we should raise airline taxes. This would offset an individual traveller's carbon footprint. The taxes could then be used in initiatives to offset a global carbon footprint in areas affected most by climate change. Airline travel causes a lot of CO2 emissions and hence contributes to climate change. Most short-haul airline travel is fairly unnecessary and could easily be replaced by (less emissions intense) train or high speed train travel. Raising airline taxes would make it more expensive to travel and only absolutely necessary airline travel would happen. On the other side it would just mostly impact poorer people more, as wealthy people can still afford to travel and even a higher tax would not deter them. However, I do think that we need to improve train travel for longer trips and the improvement of train travel could reduce the number of people who have no choice but to travel by plane. There are also many other things that could be done to mitigate climate change and offset a traveller's carbon footprint, and taxes should be used to help the environment in other ways also.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - We believe that increasing airline taxes would reduce the number of flights and the amount of carbon emissions, but this would have a negative impact on people's quality of life, as people would be less able to travel and see family and friends. It would also affect the aviation industry negatively, as people would not be able to afford to travel by plane, and thus flights would be cancelled. We also believe that it would be unfair to increase airline taxes, as this would mostly affect poorer people, who are already under a lot of financial pressure. We think that the best way to reduce carbon emissions is to invest in new technologies, such as electric planes, so that people can still travel and enjoy themselves, but with less impact on the environment.
1: 4,1,2,3
1: 2,3,4,1
1: 3,2,1,4
1: 4,1,3,2
1: 3,2,4,1