Biden is in the midst of criticism. But not only…

Air travel has long deterred supporters of the fight against global warming. This is due to the huge amounts of carbon dioxide emitted by the engines of passenger planes. For obvious reasons, most world leaders will travel to Glasgow on official trips. President Joe Biden, who has made fighting global warming one of his main demands, flew there on Air Force One, a modified Boeing 747, and a similar machine took members of his delegation.

Earlier, the US leader was criticized when it was revealed that during the G20 summit he was driving a motorcade around Rome with up to 85 cars, most of them powered by massive V8 engines. In addition, he is accompanied by two other C-5 Galaxy heavy transport aircraft carrying his cars and a Marine One helicopter.

Air Force One is not the only government aircraft that flies to Glasgow. The log shows that a number of other government aircraft flew there – the Canadian VIP, the French Cotam 001, the German Konrad Adenauer, the Australian Shark One or the Israeli Zion Wing, and many others. Whereas in the case of world leaders it is understandable, if only for security reasons, that many people – businessmen, corporate heads, activists, etc. – also traveled to this summit on private planes, although they may benefit from regular flights.

Matt Finch of Transportation and the Environment explained it Traveling by private jet is the most climate-damaging way to travel. He emphasized that such a machine emits about 2 tons of carbon dioxide per flight hour. Finch emphasized that the average Western population’s carbon footprint is about 8 tons per year. Thus, one long flight on a private jet emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than a few ordinary people in a year.

Private jets are very prestigious, but it’s hard to avoid being accused of hypocrisy when using them by claiming to fight global warming

– confirmed.

COP26, ie airport traffic

The MailOnline, citing sources in British Air Traffic Control, revealed that A total of about 400 private jets will fly to COP26. On Sunday alone, his reporters at Glasgow Airport observed at least 52 private planes landing. And that was just one of the many airports they landed at. The crowd on the runway was so great that some machines, after disembarking the passengers, immediately took off for a flight to other airports because there was nowhere on the tarmac to stop them. Others even landed in Edinburgh or London. The official Airbus A321 that Boris Johnson flew on from Rome circled the airport for 20 minutes before he could land.

One of those who came to Glasgow on a non-cruise plane was the ardent defender of the fight against global warming and heir to the British throne, Prince Charles. According to journalists, the machine that flew from Rome was registered by the British Ministry of Defense. A spokesman for Clarence House, his official residence, told reporters that the aristocrat personally campaigned for the use of biofuels in aviation, which, along with the production process, emits less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and decided to fly only in the atmosphere. Provided he left his plane full of this fuel. A similar explanation was given by representatives of the Bank of America, known for its promotion of the fight against global warming, which had two planes bound for Glasgow.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, another famous proponent of fighting global warming, also traveled to Glasgow on a private jet. Previously, he was attending Bill Gates’ 66th birthday party. The event was held on a luxury yacht owned by the founder of Microsoft, which emits 19 tons of carbon dioxide per day.. Bezos and other attendees boarded the helicopters, many of whom had previously traveled to Turkey on private planes or their yachts.

The Daily Mail noted that many of the private planes had registrations of their charter companies, making it impossible to determine who was on board. Journalists noted that in most cases, flights from places such as Brussels, Stockholm, London or Paris can easily be taken on scheduled planes that carry more passengers, and therefore emit much less greenhouse gases per passenger. By their estimates, the 400 private jets that flew into COP26 would release 13,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – the same amount as 1,600 Britons would emit during the year.

fall into hypocrisy

Elite hypocrisy in combating emissions has been criticized from many different angles, from Right to environmental organizations such as Extinction Rebelion, which in protest attempted to shut down an airport for private jets. Many people also ask why, instead of emitting such massive amounts of carbon dioxide, COP26 was not organized in a virtual form, like many other political meetings during the pandemic. However, Secretary of State Liz Truss told the BBC that a lot depended on holding this meeting in this way. “I think anyone who’s ever had a Zoom conference knows it’s very useful in some cases, but when you want to get into important negotiations, when you want to confront someone and talk to someone face to face, you have to meet face to face and she said it’s very important.

This is not the first time that the greatest advocates of fighting global warming have fallen into hypocrisy. Very often, a private jet is used, for example, by the “climate car” John Kerry, who flew it in April for a … prize for combating global warming. In the middle of the year, the gathering of billionaires, CEOs, influential journalists and others in the Sun Valley was also loud. Most support the fight against the climate without considering its costs to the economy and ordinary people, but they have flown on so many private planes that scheduled flights all over the West Coast of the United States had to be suspended.

Źródło: Daily Mail, Daily Record, Countercurrents