The White House is reportedly set to discuss carbon emission reductions with airline CEOs, although it remains silent about the use of a private jet by climate change adviser John Kerry.
According to Reuters, White House national climate advisor Gina McCarthy and economic advisor Brian Deese will have a virtual meeting on Friday with the heads of four airlines – American, United, Delta and Southwest.
It turns out that airlines have allegedly put pressure on the Biden administration to increase subsidies for low-carbon fuels in order to combat climate change.
The Air Transport Action Group said that air travel contributes about 2% of global emissions. Private jet travel is under greater scrutiny amid the climate debate, as elites create a much larger carbon footprint per capita than others on commercial flights.
JOHN KERRY TAKES A PRIVATE JET TO ICELAND FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD, CALLED ‘ONLY CHOICE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME’
Private jets are estimated to emit more than 40 times more carbon per passenger than commercial flights. Fox News previously reported that the Kerry family jet accumulated about 116 metric tons of carbon emissions last year.
In 2019, Kerry took a private jet to receive the Arctic Circle award for climate leadership and was asked about the apparent hypocrisy.
Icelandic reporter Jóhann Bjarni Kolbeinsson confronted Kerry at the event about his choice of transport, asking, “I understand that you came here with a private jet. Is that an environmental way of traveling?”
Kerry defended his high-pollution trip at the time, calling it “the only choice for someone like me, who is traveling the world to win this battle” in an interview obtained by Fox News.
He added: “If you offset your carbon – it is the only choice for someone like me, who is traveling the world, to win this battle.”
THE JOHN KERRY FAMILY’S PRIVATE JET EMITTED 116 METRIC TONS OF CARBON LAST YEAR
“I negotiated the Paris Agreements for the United States,” he said, referring to the multilateral climate agreement signed when he was Secretary of State for Barack Obama.
“I have been involved in this fight for years. I negotiated with [Chinese] President Xi must bring President Xi to the table so that we can reach Paris. And, I believe, the time it takes me to get somewhere, I can’t sail across the ocean. I have to fly, meet people and get things done. “
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It is unclear how Kerry is offsetting his carbon footprint, as he said, but flight records indicate that his family’s private jet spent more than 20 hours in the air last year – culminating in about 116 metric tons of carbon emissions. carbon.
For comparison, a March 2018 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the typical passenger car emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That calculation assumed a car that drives about 11,500 miles per year, with a fuel economy of around 22.0 miles per gallon.