Petrolheads…
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 by Nigel
Who else thinks Jeremy Clarkson is an insufferable jughead?
A 4×4 too far: Clarkson hits trouble on fragile salt flats
BBC faces eco-outrage after Top Gear sends presenter into unspoilt Botswana wilderness
…In a sequence that will dent the BBC’s ecological profile, the Top Gear team is to be shown crossing the protected Makgadikgadi salt pans in Botswana in an assortment of vehicles believed to include 4×4s, quad bikes and pick-up trucks as part of one of the off-road ‘challenges’ set up for the programme.
The salt pans are the largest in the world, covering 16,000 sq km, and are the relic of a vast ancient lake. In the rainy season the area becomes a breeding ground for endangered birds, including two species of flamingo. Conservation experts complained yesterday that the top layer of soil in the pans is extremely fragile and tracks left by Clarkson and his crew will remain for decades. They are even more upset by the impact that showing the footage on television will have for this sensitive region.
Check out 4×4? Y?
Thanks to Tim Parkinson for the photo, which he’s tagged “stupid”, “wasteful”, “fashion statement”.
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July 10th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
What I’d most like to recycle just now is Salman Rushdie’s Knighthood. It may not be the thing to do to ask that it be refused, but if it saves lives and silences that odious 2nd-in-command A_Q ‘person’ for a bit, it should be worth it. Salman Rushdie has had expensive protection which could have been spent on alternative sources of energy or other worthy causes. He has a personal fortune based on sales of his books. Surely, he can publicly renounce any other favours or honours and let us sleep a little more safely in our beds.