Thread by @Greens4HS2

We know many very committed Greens are involved in these protests against #HS2, concerned about the loss of habitat and woodland - we respect their dedication. But they’re protesting about the wrong thing - the real enemy is the #RIS2 roads programme. /1

https://twitter.com/HS2ltd/status/1311681002583060480?s=20

Unlike #RIS2, #HS2 is an investment in a low-CO2 future. It may not look like it now during construction, but the tree loss and upheaval we see is going to be paid back over decades because of how it helps the shift from high-CO2 cars and planes to low-CO2 travel. /2

(Here’s our CO2 thread:

https://twitter.com/Greens4HS2/status/1309845717591175168?s=20

. The chart summarises: over 60 years HS2 with no policy assistance will be neutral or better; over 120 years a huge win; with Green policies behind it, a major sustainability win. Note the numbers: worst case 1.2m tonnes CO2.) /3

By contrast, the #RIS2 roads programme is made up of 75 road schemes, quoted as “4000 miles” of road, that unlike railways can only ever add to CO2 emissions. (you can read about them here if you want: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…) /4

This excellent report from Transport for Quality of Life (transportforqualityoflife.com/u/files/The%20…) has looked into the CO2 generation of the #RIS2 road schemes. The whole programme will generate about 20 MILLION TONNES of CO2 over just 12 years! Compare that with #HS2. /5

And some specific schemes: the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel, a single 2-mile road scheme, will generate 1.95 million tonnes of CO2 over 60 years as well as destroying ages-old landscape and history - that’s nearly double the whole of HS2! And it’ll keep doing it for ever. /6

And the Lower Thames Crossing, another short motorway scheme, will generate 5.7 MILLION TONNES OF CO2 after 60 years, and will keep on doing it. And it potentially impacts more ancient woodland (54 hectares) than #HS2 Phases 1 and 2a (39 hectares). /7

This chart shows the 60-year impact of these schemes, compared to the published #HS2 CO2 impact that we’ve shown is really pessimistic. /8

And that’s just the CO2. What about the land take? RIS2 is “4000 miles of road”. Let’s assume that that’s lanes rather than roads and each lane is 4m wide - that’s about 25 sq km of land. That’s around twice as much as #HS2 (greengauge21.net/hs2-land-take/).

https://twitter.com/A428Cat/status/1257599080282443778?s=20

/9

So on CO2 and land, the roads programme is bigger and MUCH more destructive than #HS2. And it is NOT, repeat NOT, an investment in a sustainable future. #HS2 is. /10

So Green campaigners, including tree-protectors and veterans of the 1980s/90s road campaigns, should take a breather, lay off #HS2 and start mobilising to deal with the real threat of land, habitats and the climate - the #RIS2 programme. /11

(If you want to stop road building in its tracks, support the Transport Action Network who are bringing a crowd-funded legal case against #RIS2: transportactionnetwork.org.uk/ris2-legal-act…) /end