How academics justify their air travel

'How do we reduce our contradictions or, better yet, our carbon emissions? The solutions are obvious, which is why no one wants to talk about them. They would require sacrifice, or at least a new way of thinking about and conducting our professional lives. Bring up the issue among a gathering of scholars and you will get something like the following responses:

- I know that flying is an environmental problem, but travel is essential to my work (and I really like San Francisco in the fall);

- My research is a collaborative enterprise. I need to discuss it with colleagues face-to-face (over wine and cheese);

- The importance of my research outweighs the environmental costs of air travel'

Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 January 2008

[Source: A&L Daily]