EasyJet's Harrison gets an environmental grilling

"EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison has bravely, or stupidly, gone head-to-head with UK newspaper The Guardian's environmental warrior George Monbiot in a web video interview. And by the look on Harrison's face by the end of the interview, I think he might have regretted it!

For those of you unfamiliar with Monbiot, he's a regular contributor to The Guardian website's "Comment is free" section and his focus is man's impact on climate change. Yesterday he was railing against the evil of Agas and today he is challenging Harrison about easyJet's environmental record - in particular the viability of the Ecojet design it unveiled last year and its carbon offset scheme.

I couldn't help thinking that Harrison looked more than a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning, and could perhaps have been better prepared. After all, you only have to read some of Monbiot's opinion pieces to see what his agenda is and what line his questioning will take.

But kudos to Harrison for going ahead with it anyway. I'd pay to see a similar interview between Monbiot and Ryanair's Michael O'Leary! And as for Monbiot, I admire his passion for a cause but can't help being turned off by his earnest pomposity. "