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The White House is expected to discuss reducing carbon emissions with airline CEOs, even if it remains silent on the use of a private jet by senior climate change adviser John Kerry.
White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy and economic adviser Brian Deese will have a virtual meeting on Friday with executives of four airlines – US, United, Delta and Southwest, according to Reuters.
It comes as airlines have reportedly pressured the Biden administration to increase subsidies for low-carbon fuels in an effort to combat climate change.
The Air Transport Action Group said air transport contributes only about 2% of global emissions. Private jet travel has come under more scrutiny amid the climate debate, as elites create a much larger per capita carbon footprint than others who take commercial flights.
JOHN KERRY BOARDED A PRIVATE JET IN ICELAND FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL PRICE, CALLED IT ‘ONLY CHOICE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME’
It is estimated that private jets emit up to 40 times more carbon per passenger than commercial flights. Fox News previously reported that Kerry’s family jet had racked up around 116 metric tons of carbon emissions over the past 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 journalist Jóhann Bjarni Kolbeinsson confronted Kerry at the event about her choice of transportation, asking, “I understand you came here on a private jet. Is this a green way to travel?”
Kerry defended her heavily polluted race at the time, calling it “the only choice for someone like me who travels the world to win this battle” in an interview obtained by Fox News.
He added: “If you offset your carbon – it’s the only choice for someone like me who travels the world to win this battle.”
THE JOHN KERRY FAMILY PRIVATE JET EMITTED 116 METRIC TONS OF CARBON IN THE LAST YEAR
“I negotiated the Paris accords for the United States,” he said, referring to the multilateral climate agreement signed while he was Secretary of State under Barack Obama.
“I have been involved in this fight for years. I negotiated with [Chinese] President Xi will bring President Xi to the table so that we can get Paris. And I believe the time it takes me to get somewhere, I can’t cross the ocean. I have to fly, meet people and get things done. “
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It is not known how Kerry offset his carbon output, as he claimed, but flight logs indicated his family’s private jet had spent over 20 hours in the air in the past year – resulting in approximately 116 metric tonnes of carbon emissions.
For comparison, a March 2018 report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This calculation assumes a car that travels about 11,500 miles per year with a fuel economy of about 22.0 miles per gallon.
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