Government tourism minister: My carbon footprint is private
UPDATE: Woodward is now secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
Slightly off-topic for Travolution, but managed with a colleague from Travel Weekly to grab a few minutes last night with Shaun Woodward, UK minister for "creative industries" and tourism.
In between talking about his best holiday (Cornwall, surprise-surprise, and the Three Valleys in France), I managed to squeeze in a question about carbon footprints.
[A rather timely one, I thought, considering environment secretary David Miliband launched the government's carbon calculator for the great unwashed earlier this week.]
However, Woodward was rather reluctant to discuss his own footprint.
"I actually think that is a personal question."Oh, really.
I didn't realise at the time, but Miliband has revealed the level of his own footprint: a very worthy 2.76 tonnes per year [the national average is 4.47 tonnes].
So why did Woodward refuse to tell? Hmmm... Needless to say, he was at pains to point out:
"I have more than offset my carbon footprint."Not sure what you all think, but is it a private matter for a government minister?
[Remarkably, he still did have the front to ask about my own - a shameless 4.91 tonnes, boosted by the number of conferences the UK travel industry hosts overseas each year]
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
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