Tag Archives: private jets

Rules For Thee But Not For Me

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The people who are in a panic about climate change often encourage us to use public transportation, live in smaller houses, buy more efficient cars, travel less, etc. They are seriously concerned about our carbon footprint. Yet, somehow, they seem to be much less concerned about their own carbon footprint.

On Saturday, The Washington Examiner reported:

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has spent around $415,000 on private jet flights since 2021.

The money was doled out by her campaign committee, with the most spent in 2022 during her reelection campaign against former Rep. Lee Zeldin.

A pilot experienced in private aviation told the New York Post that Hochul’s use of a private jet is “very wasteful.”

“It’s very wasteful, especially for an elected official,” he said. “There is no reason why any elected official in New York should be taking a private jet. Nearly everywhere in New York or upstate has a [commercial] airport that will take you anywhere in the country.”

Private jets are known to be especially wasteful, considering the small amount of passengers they carry. A 2021 report from the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that private jets are five to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial flights and 50 times more polluting than trains.

Hochul utilized two private-airline companies, Zephyr Jets and Apollo Jets, and spent no less than $5,000 on each flight while her most expensive journey was $38,594.00.

I have less patience with a politician using campaign money for private jets than I do with someone who is financially successful using one. At least a business person flying a private jet has earned the money for the trip. Hochul was using campaign funds that could have easily been more efficiently spent.

The article concludes:

Hochul is facing immense internal pressure from New York Democrats who want to oust her for the 2026 gubernatorial race. She faced previous criticism for down-ballot House losses in 2022 but recovered some ground during the 2024 elections, winning several seats back.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is one of her main detractors. He has his eyes on the governor’s office in just a few short years.

“When it comes to combating climate change, the governor is conspicuously failing to practice what she preaches. New Yorkers viscerally resent hypocrisy, and the governor’s hypocrisy here is as staggering as her carbon footprint,” Torres told the New York Post.

Kathy Hochul is simply one more example of a politician who refuses to practice what she preaches.

Irony

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On Saturday, Just the News posted the following headline:

UN climate confab may have largest carbon footprint in event’s history, more than 400 jets

Aren’t those the people who want us to drive mini electric cars and eat bugs?

The article reports:

The upcoming United Nations (UN) climate conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), known as COP28, appears likely to have a larger carbon footprint than any previous UN climate change summit.

More than 70,000 people are expected to show up to COP28, about 25,000 more people than last year’s summit, COP27. The conference, which runs from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12, will focus on global strategies to reduce emissions and accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels in favor of green energy.

About 40,000 people attended COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland,  while nearly 45,000 people attended the 2015 summit in Paris, France, where the Paris Climate Accords were signed.

Conference attendees have drawn scrutiny in previous years for traveling to and from the event in private jets while lecturing on the importance of reducing emissions. Notably, a luxury concierge service has been offering to arrange private jet charters ahead of this year’s conference.

In addition to flying in and out of the UAE, many attendees will also stay in high-end hotels and have access to “environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, delicious and nutritious food and beverage,” according to COP28’s website.

On October 16, 2021, Zero Hedge posted the following headline:

UN Climate Change Conference Reportedly Using Diesel Generators To Charge Teslas Being Used As Shuttles

Some highlights of that article are posted here.

The article also notes:

One of the key issues to be discussed at COP28 is the shape of a so-called “loss and damages” fund, a de facto international climate reparations program. Special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry recently suggested that the U.S. will pay “millions” into the fund, a number that many activists and representatives of poorer countries find to be inadequate. China is unlikely to have any significant obligations to the fund because it is classified as a developing country, despite its status as the world’s top emitter and second-largest economy.

If you have not yet figured out that the purpose of climate change is to take money away from the countries that have it and give it to China and other ‘developing’ countries, you have not been paying attention.

Things That Make You Doubt People Who Scream Global Warming

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We have  listened to some scientists, some political leaders, and some celebrities scream for years about global warming. In 1985, many of those same people were screaming about global cooling. Basically in both cases, the word was give up your lifestyle or die in five years. Meanwhile, many of the people screaming about global warming continued to fly around in private jets, buy oceanfront property, and expand their own carbon footprint while asking the rest of us to reduce our carbon footprint.

On July 4th, Breitbart posted an article about some of the recent behavior of the corporate elite regarding global warming.

The article reports:

The Financial Times (FT) reports spending by U.S. companies on private jets for personal use by chief executives and chairs hit the highest level for a decade last year as many businesses relaxed restrictions on using them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spending on airborne luxury rose 35 percent to $33.8mn among S&P 500 groups in 2021 — the highest since 2012, according to ISS Corporate Solutions, a division of investment adviser Institutional Shareholder Services.

The business elites have seemingly grasped the appeal long ago recognised by Hollywood, tried it and have no intention of going back to their old ways as everyday fliers are forced to in crowded commercial airports.

…Who is enjoying the corporate travel stakes? The FT sets that out:

Among the biggest spenders were Facebook parent Meta and aerospace group Lockheed Martin as many companies eased rules on using private jets because of fears over contracting Covid-19 on commercial flights. Meta spent $1.6mn on private jets for chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, while Lockheed spent $1.1mn on flights for boss James Taiclet.

Lockheed Martin said it broadened its private jet spending last year ‘in light of the Covid-19 pandemic’.

This included $353,303 for Taiclet’s personal travel as well as for commutes to his home out of state and deadhead flights, when an aircraft is used for a one-way charter, Lockheed said in a regulatory filing this year.

I don’t begrudge anyone who can afford it the luxury of flying around in private jets. However, I think it’s a bit hypercritical to fly around in a private jet with a huge carbon footprint and lecture the rest of us about global warming.

You Go First

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On Monday, Breitbart reported the following:

“This food crisis is real, and we must find solutions,” World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on a WEF trade panel last Wednesday.

The WEF has published a starter list to help consumers change their diet with “new and innovative options that have started making their way to the global market only recently.” These include:

      • Algae: combining their carbon-negative profile with sustainable sourcing, algae have the potential to change the food system for the better while being good for your health, thanks to their essential fatty acids and high vitamin and antioxidants content. Although may not appeal to the most squeamish consumers, algae actually possess a meat-like, umami flavour that makes them an ideal replacement for meat. They can also be dried and minced to obtain healthy salt-like condiments and dressings.
      • Cacti: many varieties of cacti are edible and contain high amounts of vitamins C and E, carotenoids, fibre and amino acids. Cacti stems have long been part of the Mexican culinary tradition and are now starting to enter the international market through new, delicious concepts.
      • Uncommon grains: if you don’t feel like revolutionizing your diet with unusual ingredients, you can opt for a more gradual change by diversifying your sources of carbohydrates. Despite the existence of 21 different families of grains, at the moment rice, wheat and maize make up more than 50 percent of global cereal consumption. Opting for diverse grain varieties (like amaranth, fonio or buckwheat) will not only provide you with more nutritional value, but also help improve soil health and preserve biodiversity.

The WEF has previously said switching en masse to a plant-based diet is essential to protect wildlife habitats and prevent the loss of numerous species currently facing extinction.

Hollywood has also been known to recommend the same message of changing eating habits to save the planet from “certain destruction.”

These are the same people who flew their private jets to Davos to lecture us on our carbon footprints. Do you honestly believe they will be eating algae and cacti?

Do As I Say–Not As I Do

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On Tuesday, The Daily Wire posted an article about some of the actions that contrast with the words of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The article reports:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has spent more than $500,000 in taxpayer money on private jets since 2020, even though she often describes climate change as an “existential” threat and says the U.S. has a “moral” obligation to solve it, according to a new report.

“According to campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission, Pelosi’s campaign paid a Virginia-based private aviation provider, Advanced Aviation Team, over $437,000 between October 2020 and December 2021 and over $65,000 to Clay Lacy Aviation, a California-based private jet provider,” Fox News reported on Monday.

Pelosi, who will run for re-election again this year at age 82, lead a 21-member congressional delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November, where she said: “For me, it’s a religious thing. I believe this is God’s creation, and we have a moral obligation to be good stewards.”

“We must face the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis,” Pelosi said in January 2019 in her opening address to Congress. “The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future.”

The article concludes:

During the administration of George W. Bush, Pelosi requested regular access to an Air Force passenger jet, but that created a debate over whether she would get the large aircraft she wants and who she may take as passengers.

At the time, one Republican called it a “flying Lincoln Bedroom,” and Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC) labeled the speaker’s plane “Pelosi One.”

“This is a bullet point to a larger value — Pelosi’s abuse of power continues,” McHenry said. “It began when the speaker denied minority rights to Republicans … and now she’s exploiting America’s armed forces and taxpayers for her own personal convenience.”

I might be inclined to take the idea that man actually is a major influence on the earth’s climate seriously if I saw those yelling that we need to panic actually acting like they saw a threat.

Finding The Truth In The Epstein Investigation

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that federal prosecutors have served grand jury subpoenas on Jeffrey Epstein’s personal pilots.

The article reports:

Testimony from the pilots could be used by federal investigators in their efforts to corroborate accounts from Mr. Epstein’s accusers. They could also provide detail on Mr. Epstein’s travels and his associates. Some of the pilots were responsible for keeping flight logs of passengers who flew on Mr. Epstein’s private jet, according to court filings.

Mr. Epstein, who was denied bail and will remain in federal custody pending trial, has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking charges stemming from what prosecutors allege was a yearslong scheme from 2002 to 2005 to recruit and sexually abuse dozens of girls.

Mr. Epstein’s lawyers didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

In a recent court filing, prosecutors said that entities controlled by Mr. Epstein own at least two private jets in active service, and that at least one of them is capable of traveling internationally. He frequently traveled by private jet between his homes in New York and Palm Beach, Fla., according to the indictment against him. Mr. Epstein’s lawyers said he owns one private jet and sold the other one last month.

Women in civil lawsuits have accused Mr. Epstein of conspiring with his pilots and other associates from at least 1998 to 2002 to facilitate sex abuse and avoid law-enforcement detection. One woman has said in court filings that when she was a minor in 2000, Mr. Epstein transported her regularly on his private jet to be sexually exploited by his associates and friends.

If even one tenth of what Jeffrey Epstein is accused of is true, he needs to spend the rest of his life in jail. However, even Jeffrey Epstein is innocent until proven guilty. The best outcome of this investigation is that justice will be based on truth.