Smoking ban poses new climate threat

[August]

Smoking ban poses new climate threat - Telegraph

Pubs are likely to pump hundreds of thousands of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a result of the smoking ban.

Policy advisers predict that emissions from patio heaters in pubs and restaurants will increase from 22,200 tons of greenhouse gases a year to up to 282,000 tons - the equivalent of flying a jumbo jet 171 times around the Earth.

Heaters will be used for more than 237 days a year, when outdoor temperatures are lower than 15C, says the report, from Market Transformation. A further 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be produced next year by patio heaters in private gardens, according to an earlier study by the Energy Saving Trust.

Environmentalists say the heaters must now be banned if Britain is to meet carbon dioxide emission targets.

Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The impacts of the smoking ban are positive, but this should not cause more problems for the environment. Either smokers will have to give up smoking or simply put on a jumper."

[altyfc]

Sounds like a valid concern. I know one or two places that have gone to these outdoor heaters to keep their smoking customers happy.

[August]

You know, Norway is a country that is just a little colder than Ireland and the UK. Outdoor heaters are found outside every fucking pub in the country, and that, mind you, can only make for a lot of extra emissions. And I'm thinking (yes, I'm a smoker): what on Earth can ever be so utterly wrong with well ventilated smoking departments inside the pubs and the discos of this gruesomely sophisticated and perfectly sanitized western world?

[Mr_Flibble]

Could be worse, most of the smokers hate me (a smoker) because I told the facilities people that there is no point spending money on an external shelter for smokers.

So we don't have one

[August]

Not only are you a smoker; you're a masochist as well.