Posted on 11/05/2004 9:52:54 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
Heavy suitcases are not the only things weighing down airplanes and requiring them to burn more fuel, pushing up the cost of flights. A new government study shows that airlines increasingly have to worry more about the weight of their passengers.
Heavier fliers have created heftier fuel costs, according to the government study.
Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans increased 10 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn 350 million more gallons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the additional weight, the federal agency estimated in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The obesity epidemic has unexpected consequences beyond direct health effects,'' said Dr. Deron Burton of the CDC. "Our goal was to highlight one area that had not been looked at before."
The extra fuel burned also had an environmental impact, as an estimated 3.8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide was released into the air, according to the study.The agency said its calculations are rough estimates, issued to highlight previously undocumented consequences of the ongoing obesity epidemic.
The estimates were calculated by determining how much fuel the 10 extra pounds of weight per passenger represented in Department of Transportation airline statistics, Burton said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I'm sure many tens of millions of tons of CO2 would be prevented if all elite Hollywood star, rock stars and Democratic candidates decided to live like the little people and sold their private jets, their multiple mansion, and Hummers and quit heating their swimming pools. But then they would have to live the lifestyle they want to cram down our throats. Thank God they were repudiated on Tuesday.
Maybe tickets should be charged BY THE POUND! Ted kennedy would run out of money!.....
The airlines should prohibit Michael Moore from flying!!!
I say: weight people as they are about to get on, vs their height, if they are obese, surcharge!
Save the world-fly naked!
Better yet, make them fly to the Amazon and plant CO2-eating trees. After all, the Dims love "Direct Action."
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