Catfight!! RyanAir CEO, UK Environment Minister Square Off On Airline Emissions - Guardian

[hatrack]

Ryanair today hit back at government criticism by branding environment minister Ian Pearson "foolish and ill-informed". Michael O'Leary, the budget airline's flamboyant chief, said the minister "hasn't a clue what he's talking about" after Mr Pearson branded the no-frills Irish carrier "the irresponsible face of capitalism". In an interview with the Guardian, the minister condemned the airline for refusing to take climate change seriously and described Mr O'Leary as "just completely off the wall".

Mr O'Leary responded by saying that it was time "minister Pearson and other equally foolish politicians actually tackled the real cause of climate change, which is road transport and power generation".
He added that Mr Pearson "talks a lot but does little" and that Ryanair was "Europe's greenest airline".

The Ryanair boss also recalled former Labour minister Denis Healey's famous remark about being criticised by former Tory minister Geoffrey (now Lord) Howe when he said that being attacked by Mr Pearson was like "being savaged by a dead sheep".

In newspaper adverts today, Ryanair describes the doubling of air passenger duty (APD) airport departure tax from February 1 as "Gordon Brown's ridiculous tax".

EDIT

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,,1983554,00.html

[ThomCat]

1. Every industry wants to avoid blame

and if someone must take the blame they'll all point to some other industry.