The Waterkeeper Alliance Annual Conference pretty much the only thing I think is worth the carbon impacts of air travel, and since the conference this year was in Utah and I had to teach my class at 9 am Monday morning, air travel was pretty much the only option.
The good news is that the round trip flight still fits in my 4-ton annual carbon budget — I added up the previous 11 months, and was about 3 tons so far. So I could just barely afford the one-ton round trip carbon bill for the trip to Utah.
And every time I fly again I am reminded how unpleasant an experience flying has become – the seats are smaller, they charge for baggage and food now, people are irritable. It is pretty to look a the clouds and landscape from above, though.